This handbook reports on the creation andresults of the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) that wasconducted by the Entrepreneurship Research Consortium (ERC), founded in 1995.The PSED was created to develop a representative portrait of entrepreneurialactivity in the United States.A panel of nascent entrepreneurs wascreated, along with a control group of non-entrepreneurs. Individuals in theprocess of creating new businesses could be studied to generate systematic,reliable, and generalizable data on business creation. The handbook reports on the creation of the ERC, provides detailedinformation about the rationale used in developing the questionnaires for thePSED, and summarizes the theoretical perspectives operationalized, andvariables used, in the PSED. The PSED model has three "transitionpoints": (1) the "conception," (2) the startup process, and (3)"outcomes" of the new firm. These points generate various researchquestions: "What are the tendencies and features of those who startbusinesses?" "How do nascent entrepreneurs go about forming abusiness?" "Why are some successful?" and "Why are some firmslikely to succeed, persist, or die?" The research design had two majorparts: (1) identifying and interviewing nascent entrepreneurs and a controlgroup, and (2) the content of the interviews. Each of the 38 chapters in the handbook was written by a scholar in the ERCwho reports on a key theoretical perspective and variables associated with thattheory. The results showed the great diversity and variety in the process ofbusiness creation. Chapters in Part I, "Demographic Characteristics of theEntrepreneur," discuss the theory, measures, and evidence about thedemographic characteristics of both nascent entrepreneurs and the comparisongroup. Aspects discussed include age and other demographics, income and networth, work and education background, and family background. Part II, "Cognitive Characteristics of the Entrepreneur," surveysthe cognitive characteristics that might determine whether nascententrepreneurs think differently than the comparison group and how types ofnascent entrepreneurs might be distinguished. Topics surveyed include careerreasons, job and life satisfaction, entrepreneurial expectations, innovationand problem-solving style, and social skills. Chapters in Part III, "The Start-up Process," explore the process ofbusiness formation. They describe the kinds and types of businesses, steps andphases of the process, social networks, funding, and business expectations. Part IV, "The Entrepreneurial Environment," explores the context ofthe startup effort and the strategic and technology orientations of theemerging new firms. Three appendixes explain the PSED data collection process, datadocumentation and preparation, use of weights, and how analysis of the datasets can be conducted. (TNM)
