Dun’s Review began publishing monthly data on bankruptcies by branch of business during the 1890s. Those series evolved through many iterations. This essay reconstructs the series from 1895 to 1935 and discusses how it can be used for economic analysis.
Authors
- Acknowledgements & Disclosure
- The authors received financial support from NSF Grants SES- 2214557 and SES-2214565 while completing this research. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3386/w32928
- Pages
- 178
- Published in
- United States of America
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction 3
- 2. The Changing Definition of Bankruptcy 6
- 3. Data Sources and Definitions 9
- 4. Methods for Reconstructing Dun’s Data Series 16
- 5. What Does Dun’s Data Reveal? 21
- Table 1: Dun’s Branches of Business 31
- Table 2: Manufacturing Divisions of Industry, circa 1937 32
- Table 3: Divisions of Industry in Trade, circa 1937 33
- Table 4: Divisions of Industry in Construction and Commercial Services, circa 1937 34
- Table 5: Missing Data 35
- Table 6: Number of Failures by Manufacturing, Trading, and Brokers and Transporters, 1895 to 1935 36
- Table 7: Liabilities of Failed Businesses by Manufacturing, Trading, and Brokers and Transporters ($1,000,000), 1895 to 1935 49
- Table 8: Failures by Branch of Business in Manufacturing, 1895 to 1935 63
- Table 9: Liabilities of Failed Businesses by Branch of Business in Manufacturing, ($1,000,000), 1895 to 1935 78
- Table 10: Failures by Branch of Business in Trading, 1895 to 1935 99
- Table 11: Liabilities of Failed Businesses by Branch of Business in Trading, ($1,000,000), 1895 to 1935 119
- Table 12: Number of Failed Businesses Creditors and Debtors, 1895 to 1935 139
- Figure 1: Number of Failures, by Sector and Month 157
- Figure 2: Number of Failures, by Sector and Month, Relative to Average 1895 to 1910 158
- Figure 3: Manufacturing Failures by Branch and Month, Relative to Average 1895 to 1910 158
- Figure 4: Trading Failures by Branch and Month, Relative to Average 1895 to 1910 159
- Figure 5: Liabilities of Failed Businesses, by Sector and Month 159
- Figure 6: Liabilities of Failed Businesses, by Sector and Month, Relative to Average 1895 to 1910 160
- Figure 7: Manufacturing Liabilities of Failed Businesses by Branch and Month, Relative to Average 1895 to 1910 161
- Figure 8: Trading Liabilities of Failed Businesses by Branch and Month, Relative to Average 1895 to 1910 162
- Figure 9: Average Size of Failures, by Sector and Month 162
- Figure 10: Average Size of Failures by Sector and Month, Relative to Average 1895 to 1910 163
- Figure 11: Average Size of Manufacturing Failures, by Branch and Month, Relative to Average 1895 to 1910 164
- Figure 12: Average Size of Trading Failures, by Branch and Month, Relative to Average 1895 to 1910 165
- Appendix 1. Dun’s Data on Bankruptcy by Branch of Business: Dates, Sources, and Notes 166
