| Abstract: | An increasing number of studies of business start-ups, closings, and relocations rely on a single data base, DUNS Market Identifiers. This data file to U.S. business establishments provides researchers with essential information about individual firms and establishments. It also exhibits serveral idiosyncracies and requires careful consideration of the meaning of such basic terms as “location”and “firm.”Drawing from a recent survey of 500 New Jersey firms. I consider some of the methodological amd conceptual issues Dun and Bradstreet data pose for industrial location analysts. The Dun and Bradstreet listings exaggerate the exaggerate the incidence and magnitude of establishment openings and closing. |
