BDRC compiles all yearly snapshots and links businesses using the unique ABI (American Business Identifier) number for each listing. This creates a time-series database of active companies for the years after 1997. BDRC then adds more time-series variables to the data, derived from the original Data Axle variables. BDRC also removes “gaps” in missing years of data for an individual establishment by “rolling” values for existing years into the next or previous year. With over 15 years of experience working with self-reported time-series data, BDRC has developed a set of algorithms that pores through the time-series data once assembled, finding and verifying potential outliers across a broad range of data relationships. Overall, less than 3% of the YTS data is affected.
BDRC is a public-private, non-profit, nonpartisan research institute devoted to the study of business performance and economic growth. Operated as a research consortium at the University of Wisconsin System Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship, BDRC is committed to creating data resources and data-driven insights that stimulate research on individual business performance and its impact on overall economic growth. BDRC’s compilation of multiple databases on business and economic activity is intended to create a comprehensive and accessible database of data on the U.S. economy, and in the process attract and serve diverse research initiatives across multiple disciplines and academic institutions.
