Abstract
This paper utilises some data from a survey of recent VAT registrations in the North of England to examine two issues: first, the extent to which registrants are involved in setting up entirely new businesses; and secondly, the relationship between the date of registration and the start of trading. The paper suggests that some caution should be exercised in the use of VAT registration statistics in the analysis of firm births.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ashcroft, B., J. Love and E. Malloy, 1991, ‘New Firm Formation in the British Counties, with Special Reference to Scotland’, Regional Studies 25(5), 395-409.
Ashcroft, B. and J. Love, 1994, ‘Employment Change and New firm Formation in GB Counties’, Paper presented at the ESRC Urban and Regional Economics Seminar Group, Craigie College, Ayr.
Bannock, G. and Partners, 1989, Small Business Statistics: A Feasibility Study Prepared for the Department of Employment, London: Graham Bannock and Partners.
Beesley, M. E. and R. T. Hamilton, 1994, ‘Entry Propensity, the Supply of Entrants and the Spatial Distribution of Business Units’, Regional Studies 28(3), 233-239.
Black, J., D. de Meza and D. Jeffreys, 1992, ‘House Prices, the Supply of Collateral and the Enterprise Economy’, Paper given at the Centre for Economic Performance, 5 June.
Creedy, J. and P. S. Johnson, 1983, ‘Firm Formation in Manufacturing Industry’, Applied Economics 15(2), 177-187.
Daley, M., 1990, ‘The 1980s - a Decade of Growth in Enterprise,’ Employment Gazette 98, 553-565.
DTI, 1993, VAT Registrations and Deregistrations in the U.K. (1980-1991), Sheffield: DTI.
Ganguly, P., 1985, U.K. Small Business Statistics and International Comparisons,London: Harper and Row.
Hart, M. and G. Gudgin, 1994, ‘Spatial Variations in New Firm Formation in the Republic of Ireland, 1980-1990’, Regional Studies 28(4), 367-380.
Johnson, P. S., 1986, New Firms: An Economic Perspective, London: Unwin Hyman.
Johnson, P. S. and S. Parker, 1994, ‘The Interrelationships between Births and Deaths’, Small Business Economics 6(4), 283-290.
Johnson, P. S. and S. Parker, 1996, ‘Spatial Variations in the Determinants and Effects of Firm Births and Deaths’, Regional Studies, forthcoming.
Keeble, D., P. Tyler, G. Broom and J. Lewis, 1992, Business Success in the Countryside, London: Department of the Environment.
Keeble, D. and S. Walker, 1994, ‘New Firms, Small Firms and Dead Firms: Spatial Patterns and Determinants in the United Kingdom’, Regional Studies 28(4), 411-427.
Keeble, D., S. Walker and M. Robson, 1993, New Firm Formation and Small Business Growth in the United Kingdom: Spatial and Temporal Variations and Determinants, Research Series No 15, London: Employment Department.
Mason, C., 1983, ‘Some Definitional Difficulties in New Firms Research’, Area 15(1), 53-60.
Mason, C. and R. Harrison, 1993, ‘Spatial variations in the role of equity investment in the financing of SMEs’, in J. Curran and D. Storey, Small Firms in Urban and Rural Locations, London: Routledge.
Robson, M., 1994, ‘Housing Wealth, Business Creation and Dissolution in the U.K. Regions’, Department of Economics, Newcastle upon Tyne, mimeo.
Storey, D. J., 1994, Understanding the Small Business Sector, London: Routledge.
Storey, D. J. and A. M. Jones, 1987, ‘New Firm Formation - A Labour Market Approach to Industrial Entry’, Scottish Journal of Political Economy 34(1), 37-51.
Westhead, P. and A. Moyes, 1992, ‘Reflections on Thatcher's Britain: Evidence for New Production Firm Registrations 1980-88’, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development 4(1), 21-56.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Johnson, P., Conway, C. How Good Are the UK VAT Registration Data at Measuring Firm Births?. Small Business Economics 9, 403–409 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007989110381
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007989110381