Changes

The American perception of entrepreneurship and innovation is an overwhelmingly positive one; Americans believe not only that there are good opportunities for starting a business, but also that they have the capabilities to start one themselves. [http://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2013/05/27/u-s-entrepreneurship-hits-record-high/#7144d97d73aa] The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor U.S. Report found that 43% of Americans believe there are good opportunities for entrepreneurship, and that 56% of American adults believe they have the capability to start a business. [http://www.babson.edu/news-events/babson-news/PublishingImages/babson-gem-info-graphic-692.png] But recent trends in business birth and death rates tell a more sinister story. Many studies report sustained declines in entrepreneurship and business dynamism across the U.S. economy. [http://www.kauffman.org/~/media/kauffman_org/research%20reports%20and%20covers/2014/02/declining_business_dynamism_in_us_high_tech_sector.pdf%20Kauffman] Though many Americans view the high-tech sector as the pinnacle of entrepreneurship and innovation[http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/05/06/snowden-effect-americans-still-like-tech-industry-but-not-telecom/], the Kauffman Foundation found the declines in business dynamism that occurred broadly across the U.S. economy over the past two decades also occurred in the high-tech sector in the post-2000 period (high-tech sector being defined as the group of industries with very high shares of workers in the STEM occupations of science, technology, engineering, and math). [http://www.kauffman.org/~/media/kauffman_org/research%20reports%20and%20covers/2014/02/declining_business_dynamism_in_us_high_tech_sector.pdf%20Kauffman] This article aims to ask what happened in the American economy to cause the decline of business dynamism in high technology sectors, and the impacts of this slowdown on economic growth.