Simeon Djankov, Eva (Yiwen) Zhang 03 March 2021
Steep falls in entrepreneurial activity were recorded in early 2020 across G7 economies. In the US, however, the creation of US startups shot up by 24% relative to the previous year. This column uses data on new company applications in the US since 2004 to show that firm birth generally accelerates in the aftermath of economic crises and that this pattern was particularly pronounced in 2020, fuelled by the government assistance provided to small businesses. It also shows that US firm births are estimated to have surpassed firm deaths in 2020, unlike in the aftermath of the previous financial crisis.