GAW survey data linked with administrative data of the IAB (GAW-ADIAB) : a documentation and review of empirical evidence and research opportunities

New business formation plays an important role for economic development. Therefore, policy makers put emphasis on fostering start-up activity. Aims and scope of entrepreneurs can be just as heterogeneous as the structure of new ventures. The project "New business formation and the labor market in East and West German growth regimes" within the Collaborative Research Center (SFB 580) "Social developments in post-socialistic societies: discontinuity, tradition, structural formation" at the Friedrich-Schiller University Jena investigated the development and structures of new firms. To this end, the project team conducted the GAW survey by means of computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). In total, there have been 1,105 interviews with founders of firms. The data include personal information on the founder and his or her firm. This information can be merged with administrative data of the Establishment History Panel (BHP = Betriebs-Historik Panel) of the Research Data Centre of the German Institute for Employment Research (IAB). The BHP comprises detailed information on establishment characteristics. Therefore, the GAW survey data provide the unique opportunity to link characteristics of the entrepreneur with detailed information about the characgteristics of his or her company and firm growth.