Towards Unrestricted Public Use Business Microdata

Many national statistical agencies collect data on business establishments; however, very few disseminate establishment-level data as unrestricted public use _les. Instead, they disseminate business data in highly aggregated forms, such as the County Business Patterns and the Business Dynamics Statistics released by the U. S. Census Bureau or the Business Employment Dynamics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.1 The dearth of establishment level data stems from requirements, both legal and practical, to protect the confidentiality of establishments' data... more »