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 Survey of Small Business Finances
SSBF index

Recent Changes to Data and Documentation

The information below provides a list of revisions to all public SSBF (NSSBF) data sets and documentation. We provide these brief descriptions of updates and changes to allow our users to determine whether they need to update their copy of the data set or documentation.

      October 15, 2008

      IMPORTANT DATA REVISION
      THIS UPDATE DOES NOT AFFECT DOWNLOADS THAT OCCURRED AFTER October 15, 2008.

      • 2003 SSBF Release, Revised data
        • The following changes were made to IH2_(1-20)(INSTITUTION TYPE):
          • Corrected IH2_(1-20) for institutions that were incorrectly classified (83 changes).
        • The following changes were made to H2_(1-8) (INSTITUTION TYPE):
          • Corrected H2_(1-8) for institutions that were incorrectly classified (80 changes). Changes correspond to institutions where IH2_(1-20) corrections were made. NOTE: three of the institutions that required institution type changes were not in the firm�s �top 8�.
        • The following changes were made to IBHC_(1-20) (INSTITUTION AFFILIATED WITH A BANK HOLDING COMPANY):
          • IBHC_(1-20) was set to 2 for all credit unions (IH2 = 4). Credit Unions were previously incorrectly coded as being affiliated with bank holding companies (304 changes).
          • Corrected IBHC_(1-20) for banks and thrifts that were incorrectly classified (96 changes).
          • Set IBHC_(1-20) to .D for all institutions where the respondent did not reveal the name of the institution (754 changes).
        • The following changes were made to ICAP_FIN_(1-20) (INSTITUTION AFFILIATED WITH A CAPTIVE FINANCE COMPANY):
          • Corrected ICAP_FIN_(1-20) for institutions that were incorrectly or inconsistently classified (141 changes).
          • Set ICAP_FIN_(1-20) to .D for all institutions where the respondent did not reveal the name of the institution (753 changes).
      • 2003 SSBF Release, Technical Codebook: Revised explanations for IBHC_(1-20)
        The following explanations have been revised in the 2003 Survey of Small Business Finances Technical Codebook:
        • The explanation for IBHC_(1-20) has been revised to reflect the changes noted above.


        March 1, 2007

        IMPORTANT DATA REVISION
        THIS UPDATE DOES NOT AFFECT DOWNLOADS THAT OCCURRED AFTER March 1, 2007.

        • 2003 SSBF Release, Revised data
          • A0_DB_CREDRK: Corrected a few cases that were originally released with a value of zero; they should have been missing ('.').
          • A0_HHI0, A0_HHI100, and A0_HHI50: Values were updated to account for revised market definitions.
        • 2003 SSBF Release, Technical Codebook: Revised codeframe for MRL18 and A0_DB_CREDRK
          The following codeframes have been expanded in the 2003 Survey of Small Business Finances Technical Codebook:
          • The codeframe for MRL18 has been revised to reflect the expanded codeframe noted in the 2003 Questionnaire.
          • The codeframe for A0_DB_CREDRK has been revised to include '.' indicating that there was not enough information to score the firm.
        • 2003 SSBF Release, Survey Questionnaire: Revised label for A0_DB_CREDRK
          The following correction was made in the introduction of the Survey Questionnaire:
          • The label for A0_DB_CREDRK has been revised to include '.=NA' indicating that there was not enough information to score the firm.


        December 6, 2006

        DOCUMENTATION REVISION
        THIS UPDATE DOES NOT AFFECT PREVIOUSLY DOWNLOADED DATA

        • 2003 SSBF Release, Technical Codebook: Revised codeframe for A0_SIC2_FIN
          The following mistake has been corrected in the 2003 Survey of Small Business Finances Technical Codebook:

          • The codeframe for A0_SIC2_FIN has been corrected to properly identify Manufacturing and Transportaion industries.

        November 8, 2006

        DATA REVISION
        THIS UPDATE DOES NOT AFFECT PREVIOUSLY DOWNLOADED DATA

        • 2003 SSBF Release: SAS Data Revision
          The following has been modified to accommodate the release of the 2003 public data set:

          • Due to compatibility problems of the SAS transport file, the compressed SAS transport file has been replaced with a compressed SAS data set.
          • The ASCII documentation was updated to include variable labels.
          • Updated FAQ

        November 1, 2006

        • 2003 SSBF Release: Data and supplementary documentation release.
          The following items have been added or updated to accommodate the release of the 2003 public data set:

          • 2003 survey information: Methodology Reports, Papers and Technical Studies, Codebook and Annotated Survey Questionnaire, and a Public Data Set.
          • Updated Abstracts and Bibliography page.
          • Updated FAQ

        January 28, 2003

        IMPORTANT DATA REVISION
        THIS UPDATE DOES NOT AFFECT DOWNLOADS THAT OCCURRED AFTER January 28, 2003.

        • 1993 SSBF revised release: Revised data and supplementary documentation release.
          Survey group research has led to a revision of one variable on the data set and corresponding updates to the survey documentation. The following items have been updated to correct the 1993 public data set release:

          • 1993 survey information: Distributions and the Public Data Set (NOTE: change only affects HHI distribution).
          • Variable update: HHI (79 cases)
          • Updated 'Recent Changes to Data and Documentation' page
        • Recommended implementation of new data
          For those who have downloaded the data set and supporting documentation prior to this update, the recommendation is to take the following steps:

          • Update current data set using corrected HHI values. A listing of the 79 affected observations' PWCODE and HHI values can be found in the following ASCII file: (2 KB ASCII)
          • Download updated distributions file.
          • Replace previously downloaded version of distributions.
        • Updated Abstract and Bibliography
          In an ongoing effort to keep the references on the survey up-to-date, articles have been added to the Abstracts and Bibliography page.


        March 15, 2002

        IMPORTANT DATA REVISION
        THIS UPDATE DOES NOT AFFECT DOWNLOADS THAT OCCURRED AFTER March 15, 2002.

        • 1998 SSBF revised release: Revised data and supplementary documentation release.
          Survey group research has led to a revision of two variables on the data set and corresponding updates to the survey documentation. The following items have been updated to correct the 1998 public data set release:

          • 1998 survey information: Distributions and the Public Data Set.
          • Data changes affect 2 variables: HHI3_B and HHI3_BT
          • Updated 'Recent Changes to Data and Documentation' page
        • Recommended implementation of new data
          For those who have downloaded the data set and supporting documentation prior to this update, the recommendation is to take the following steps:

          • Download updated data set and distributions files.
          • Use these to replace previously downloaded versions of data set, codebook, distributions and questionnaire.
        • Updated Abstract and Bibliography
          In an ongoing effort to keep the references on the survey up-to-date, articles have been added to the Abstracts and Bibliography page.


        November 6, 2001

        THIS UPDATE DOES NOT AFFECT DOWNLOADS THAT OCCURRED AFTER NOVEMBER 6, 2001.

        • 1998 SSBF Revised release: Revised data and supplementary documentation release.
          User comments along with survey group research has led to a revised data set and survey documentation. The documentation has been updated to correct selected categorical codeframes. The following items have been updated to correct the 1998 public data set release:

          • 1998 survey information: Codebook, Distributions, Annotated Survey Questionnaire, and the Public Data Set.
          • Updated 'Recent Changes to Data and Documentation' page
          • Data changes affect 17 observations and the following variables:

            d6, f32t1_1, f32t2_1, f32t3_1, f32t4_1, f32t5_1, f32t6_1, f32t7_1, f33, tmra0, tmrd0, mranum, mrdnum
            itype2, itype3, itype4, itype7, itype9, ih3a2, ih3a3, ih3a4, ih3a7, ih3a9, ih3b2, ih3b3, ih3b4, ih3b7, ih3b9, ih3c2, ih3c3, ih3c4, ih3c7, ih3c9, isame2, isame3, isame4, isame7, isame9, imeth2, imeth3, imeth4, imeth7, imeth9, imons2, imons3, imons4, imons7, imons9, idist2, idist3, idist4, idist7, idist9 xitype2, xitype3, xitype4, xitype7, xitype9, xih3a2, xih3a3, xih3a4, xih3a7, xih3a9, xih3b2, xih3b3, xih3b4, xih3b7, xih3b9, xih3c2, xih3c3, xih3c4, xih3c7, xih3c9, xisame2, xisame3, xisame4, xisame7, xisame9, ximeth2, ximeth3, ximeth4, ximeth7, ximeth9, ximons2, ximons3, ximons4, ximons7, ximons9, xidist2, xidist3, xidist4, xidist7, xidist9 tck2, tck3, tck4, tck7, tck9, tsv2, tsv3, tsv4, tsv7, tsv9, tlc2, tlc3, tlc4, tlc7, tlc9, tle2, tle3, tle4, tle7, tle9, tmg2, tmg3, tmg4, tmg7, tmg9, tmv2, tmv3, tmv4, tmv7, tmv9, teq2, teq3, teq4, teq7, teq9, tot2, tot3, tot4, tot7, tot9, tmra2, tmra3, tmra4, tmra7, tmra9, tmrd2, tmrd3, tmrd4, tmrd7, tmrd9, ttr2, ttr3, ttr4, ttr7, ttr9, tca2, tca3, tca4, tca7, tca9, tcr2, tcr3, tcr4, tcr7, tcr9, ttrst2, ttrst3, ttrst4, ttrst7, ttrst9, tbk2, tbk3, tbk4, tbk7, tbk9,

        • Recommended implementation of new data
          For those who have downloaded the data set and supporting documentation prior to this update, the recommendation is to take the following steps:

          • Download updated data set, codebook, distributions and questionnaire files.
          • Use these to replace previously downloaded versions of data set, codebook, distributions and questionnaire.

        July 17, 2001
        • 1998 SSBF Release: Data and supplementary documentation release.
          The following items have been added or updated to accommodate the release of the 1998 public data set:

          • 1998 survey information: Methodology Reports, Papers and Technical Studies, Codebook and Annotated Survey Questionnaire, and a Public Data Set.
          • Updated Abstracts and Bibliography page with downloadable files.
          • Updated FAQ

        • 1998 SSBF: The survey name has been changed from National Survey of Small Business Finances (NSSBF) to Survey of Small Business Finances (SSBF).
        May 26, 1999
        • 1993 NSSBF: The data, codebook, and frequency distributions were updated to reflect the changes listed below.

          • Added variable NEWMSA to public data set.

          • Changed TOTEMP from 0 to 0.5 for PWCODE=47498.

          • Changed value of PRIMARY and XPRIMARY for PWCODEs 36458, 38506, 38561, 54033, 50485, and 50716.

          • Information on institution 11 was removed for PWCODE=36458; information on institution 20 was removed for PWCODE 34480 and 50390; information on institution 2 was removed for PWCODE 54337. These institutions had no services or recent loan applications.

          • Changed value of J53 for PWCODEs 34480 and 50390.

          • Changed value of collateral, guarantee, or compensating balance variables associated with an approved most recent loan for PWCODEs 30631, 30712, 31358, 31487, 32072, 32474, 32507, 32573, 33263, 34020, 34466, 35146, 35213, 35535, 35860, 36011, 36052, 36687, 37026, 37503, 38092, 38185, 38362, 38806, 39252, 50459, 50490, and 52822.

          • Changed values of XF9BANK2, XF9BANK3, F123, XF123, F143, XF143, F152, XF152, F153, and XF153 for PWCODE=34020.

          • Changed values of F241R3 and XF241R3 for PWCODE=38806.

        April 15, 1998
        • 1993 NSSBF: Changed name of variable MINORITY to PART_MIN. Added the variables P2_1, HHI, and NEWSTRAT to the public data set. We also edited the variable P2ORI for cases where the firm was not in business in 1990. The codebook and frequency distributions were changed to reflect these updates.

        • 1993 NSSBF Codebook: Added documentation on determining race, gender, and ethnicity of firm's owner.

        • 1987 NSSBF: Added methodology report and two papers.

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Last update: October 15, 2008