Report to the U.S. Small Business Administration

Abstract

Compliance with federal regulation imposes burdens on the private sector for which no good tracking system exists. This report presents profiles of the level and distribution of these regulatory compliance costs for the period 1977-2000. It does so by pulling together diverse strands of evidence and illustrating implications of alternative assumptions where the evidence is inconclusive. It is an exploratory effort to improve our understanding of who bears what burdens from regulation, responding to SBA's mandate to address small firms' aggregate costs of regulations. Ninety percent of all U.S. firms employ fewer than 20 employees, and only 0.3 percent have 500 or more employees, amply justifying a closer look at small firms' burdens. An analogous task on the benefits of regulation lies beyond this report's scope but must be undertaken before conclusions can be reached about which regulations have the strongest and weakest merit.