Small Business: Efforts to Facilitate Equity Capital Formation

摘要

As you requested, this report discusses U.S. small businesses' access to equitycapital financing. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), in 1998, the small business sector generated about half of the private gross domestic product. The development and survival of many of this country's fastest growing small businesses depend on equity capital financing. Because of the vital role that small businesses play in our economy, you asked that we study recent trends in small business equity capital financing and the potential effects of market practices and securities law regulations on such financing. The specific objectives of this report are to (1) provide an overview of the major sources of external equity capital for U.S. small businesses and describe SBA's Office of Advocacy (SBA-OA) estimate of their perceived needs for equity capital financing, (2) determine trends for the period of 1994-99 in small business equity capital financing, (3) describe how market practices and securities law regulations for equity capital-raising activities could affect small businesses, and (4) describe any efforts undertaken by federal and state agencies to facilitate small businesses' access to equity capital.