... contributing scholars consider the impact that government regulations, policies and other forces--including innovation, tax reform, employee disincentives, academic partnerships, the costs of complying with government stipulations--have actually had on small business growth. Based on an examination of policy efforts in the late 1980s, the book attempts to reveal the changing emphasis in the nature of the debate regarding small business in today's economy. Entrepreneurial Economy Review Small Business in a Regulated Economy is the first comprehensive exploration of the impact that government regulations, policies, and other forces have on the formation and growth of small business in the United States. A collection of original essays by distinguished scholars, the book makes an important contribution to business literature by raising fundamental issues related to small business operating in a regulatory economy, identifying the implications of public policies which inhibit or encourage small business growth and development, and defining the nature and character of the policy area. In addition to thoroughly examining the role that government has played in small business regulation, the contributors also make suggestions and recommendations concerning the role government should play in the future to spur small business growth and success.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. The annual cost of federal regulations in the U.S. increased to more than $1.75 trillion in 2008. Had every U.S. household paid an equal share of the federal regulatory burden, each would have owed $15,586 in 2008. While all citizens and businesses pay some portion of these costs, the distribution of the burden of regulations is quite uneven. The portion of regulatory costs that falls initially on businesses was $8,086 per employee in 2008. Small businesses, defined as firms employing fewer than 20 employees, bear the largest burden of federal regulations. This report shows that as of 2008, small businesses face an annual regulatory cost of $10,585 per employee, which is 36% higher than the regulatory cost facing large firms (500+ employees). Ill.

Seventeen in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2020 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity.

An efficient access to external capital by businesses is essential to a market economy. Small businesses, which amount to a vital component of our market economy, face not only structural and economic disadvantages but also legal obstacles in their search for essential, external capital. The Titles II, III and IV of the Jobs Act were designed, at least apparently, to ameliorate inefficient legal rules governing small businesses' access to external capital. While the act itself is not without challenges and significant misdirection, it offered the Commission an opportunity to construct regulatory regimes that materially enhance efficient, small business capital formation. The Commission, however, has failed to take full advantage of this opportunity. Title II of the Jobs Act, as implemented by Commission regulations, changes Regulation D to permit a broad solicitation for investors in Rule 506 offerings. That change amounts to an efficient improvement that will provide some benefit to small businesses in search of external capital. A requirement for the exemption provided by the revised Rule 506, however, is that sales must be restricted to accredited investors only, and that by definition is a limited source of capital for small businesses. Without significant changes to the Commission's proposed rules implementing Title III (crowdfunding), the crowdfunding exemption will be less available for small business issuers than efficiency would require. The Commission's proposed rules are plagued by excessive disclosure requirements for small offerings, integration complications, and unmanageable risks created by actions of intermediaries. Without significant changes to the Commission's proposed rules implementing Title IV (popularly called Regulation A-Plus), the exemption provided by Regulation A-Plus will be essentially unavailable for small businesses. This is due to excessive disclosure requirements for small offerings and, more importantly, the failure to provide an effective preemption of state authority over small Regulation A-Plus offerings. The problems regarding the proposed crowdfunding regulations and the proposed Regulation A-Plus regulations are fixable, if the Commission has the will.