Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Cambridge Centre for Business Research Survey of Knowledge Exchange Activity with Universities by United Kingdom Companies, 2017-2021 contains the results of an online survey of directors of UK companies in 2020-2021.

The survey was designed to assess the extent and nature of the knowledge exchange interactions of their companies with the university sector. It covers the three-year period to March 2020 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and questions relating to the subsequent impact of the pandemic on knowledge exchange patterns. The researchers inquired about 33 modes of interaction grouped into four broad categories. These were commercialisation (3 modes), people-based (10 modes), problem-solving (12 modes) and community-based (4 modes).

The survey covers a sample of 3,823 companies in all sectors, regions and countries of the UK and employment sizes ranging from micro-firms less than 10 employees, to the largest public listed corporations. The response rate was 4.4 per cent and a detailed response bias analyses by survey wave and prompt wave showed largely insignificant sample response bias compared to the sampling frame drawn from the FAME database of all UK companies.

The dataset provides a unique source of data on a critical period of challenge for knowledge exchange in the UK. David Sweeney, the then Executive Director of Research England which sponsored the survey commented on an initial report of results in 2022 that "This report which has an exclusive focus on company interactions with universities, is an important addition to our understanding of the collaboration process" (The Changing State of Business-University Interactions in the UK. Centre for Business Research and NCUB. 2022 p2).

The survey dataset contains many variables comparable with a similar previous postal survey of an earlier period by two members of the current research team. The data from this is available from the Data Archive under SN 6464 - Cambridge Centre for Business Research Survey of Knowledge Exchange Activity by United Kingdom Businesses, 2005-2009.

Main Topics:

The survey was designed to assess the extent and nature of the knowledge exchange interactions of UK companies with the UK university sector.

The purpose of this table is to provide current information on the opinions of Dutch producers about performance, expectations and assessment concerning their enterprises. The survey covers enterprises in commercial services, retail trade and manufacturing industry. The Business sentiment survey makes it possible to indicate turning points in sentiment at an early stage. In this way a change in the trend of economic activity of Dutch companies is available at a early stage. The questions put to the companies relate to production,sales, prices, orders, stocks, investment, competitiveness,economic climate, workforce and the factors limiting production. In answering the questions relating to developments in the past three months and expectations for the next tree months, the enterpreneurs are asked for a comparison with the preceding period of three months. This publication is created using co-financing by the European Commission.

Status of the figures: All data are definite.

Data available from Services: April 1992 - June 2023 Data available from Retail Trade: May 2008 - June 2023 Data available from Industry: February 1989 - June 2023

Changes as of 27 July 2023; This table has been discontinued. The reason for this is that the results of this table have been moved to other, new tables in which the results comply with the stricter confidentiality rules due to an adjusted industry classification.

When will new figures be published? Not applicable. This table is followed by Business survey Netherlands; to regions (active on August 15, 2023). See paragraph 3.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Business Structure Database (BSD) contains a small number of variables for almost all business organisations in the UK. The BSD is derived primarily from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which is a live register of data collected by HM Revenue and Customs via VAT and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. The IDBR data are complimented with data from ONS business surveys. If a business is liable for VAT (turnover exceeds the VAT threshold) and/or has at least one member of staff registered for the PAYE tax collection system, then the business will appear on the IDBR (and hence in the BSD). In 2004 it was estimated that the businesses listed on the IDBR accounted for almost 99 per cent of economic activity in the UK. Only very small businesses, such as the self-employed were not found on the IDBR.

The IDBR is frequently updated, and contains confidential information that cannot be accessed by non-civil servants without special permission. However, the ONS Virtual Micro-data Laboratory (VML) created and developed the BSD, which is a 'snapshot' in time of the IDBR, in order to provide a version of the IDBR for research use, taking full account of changes in ownership and restructuring of businesses. The 'snapshot' is taken around April, and the captured point-in-time data are supplied to the VML by the following September. The reporting period is generally the financial year. For example, the 2000 BSD file is produced in September 2000, using data captured from the IDBR in April 2000. The data will reflect the financial year of April 1999 to March 2000. However, the ONS may, during this time, update the IDBR with data on companies from its own business surveys, such as the Annual Business Survey (SN 7451).

The data are divided into 'enterprises' and 'local units'. An enterprise is the overall business organisation. A local unit is a 'plant', such as a factory, shop, branch, etc. In some cases, an enterprise will only have one local unit, and in other cases (such as a bank or supermarket), an enterprise will own many local units.

For each company, data are available on employment, turnover, foreign ownership, and industrial activity based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)92, SIC 2003 or SIC 2007. Year of 'birth' (company start-up date) and 'death' (termination date) are also included, as well as postcodes for both enterprises and their local units. Previously only pseudo-anonymised postcodes were available but now all postcodes are real.

The ONS is continually developing the BSD, and so researchers are strongly recommended to read all documentation pertaining to this dataset before using the data.

Linking to Other Business Studies
These data contain IDBR reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.

Latest Edition Information
For the sixteenth edition (March 2024), data files and a variable catalogue document for 2023 have been added.

Main Topics:

The following variables are available for enterprises and local units:

• employment (and employees)
• turnover
• Standard Industrial Classification (1992, 2003 and 2007 classifications are available)
• legal status (e.g. sole proprietor, partnership, public corporation, non-profit organisation etc)
• foreign ownership
• birth (company start date)
• death (termination date of trading)
• various geographical variables
  

'Employment' includes business owners, whereas 'employees' measures the number of staff, excluding owners.

Observations for enterprises also include a variable for ownership if the enterprise is part of a large group of companies.

Local units have an additional ‘death code’ variable, which serves as an indicator as to why the plant closed (e.g. as a result of a merger). It should also be noted that there is no turnover information for individual plants. This is because the ONS does not collect financial information at the plant level, which is notoriously difficult, especially for manufacturing plants where often no financial transactions are processed.

The birth and death variables are particularly useful for research, although it should be noted that for businesses that began trading before 1973, their birth date will be set to 1973. This is the year that VAT was introduced in the UK, and hence the first point in time for VAT registration for these companies. Companies that began trading since 1973 have their ‘real’ date of birth listed.

Abstract

The survey was conducted in Zambia between August 2019 to February 2020 by the World Bank Group (WBG). The survey covers three cities: Kitwe, Lusaka and Ndola. The fieldwork was implemented by Ipsos Zambia, a survey firm based in Lusaka.

The primary objectives of the survey are: i) to understand the business demographics of micro-enterprises in the three cities, and ii) to describe the environment within which these businesses operate.

A secondary objective of the survey is to provide an estimate of the number of micro-enterprises operating in these cities.

Analysis unit

Unit of analysis is establishment. An establishment is a physical location where business is carried out and where industrial operations take place or services are provided. A firm may be composed of one or more establishments. For example, a brewery may have several bottling plants and several establishments for distribution. For the purposes of this survey an establishment must make its own financial decisions and have its own financial statements separate from those of the firm. An establishment must also have its own management and control over its payroll.

Universe

The universe for Zambia Micro-Enterprise Survey includes formally registered businesses with less than five employees. In terms of sector and size, the survey covers all non-agricultural sectors and businesses of all size categories if they meet the registration and size criteria.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The 2019 Zambia micro-enterprise survey follows an area-based sampling methodology with geographic area rather than an establishment ot a business unit as a primary sampling unit.

To account for potential clustering of these businesses, the survey uses an area-based sampling called (stratified) Adaptive Cluster Sampling (ACS), whereby one selects a sample of starting squares and adaptively samples sorrounding squares based on the number of businesses discovered in the enumerated squares. All business in selected squares will be enumerated using a 2 to 3-minutes questionnaire, referred to in this document as the short-form questionnaire.

The short form questionnaire is a listing questionnaire where basic information about the business is collected. A randomly selected subset of the enumerated businesses will be given a 20-minutes questionnaire, referred to in this document as the long-form questionnaire. This is the main questionnaire of the survey and the basis of the database posted on the ES portal.

The survey is adaptive in the sense that if the number of businesses units in a square exceeds a predefined threshold, all the squares surrounding the starting square are surveyed, following the same approach of enumeration and randomly conducting the main interview. If one of the surrounding squares exceed the threshold, then the squares surrounding that square in turn are also surveyed. This process continues until either the network is exhausted, or an arbitrary cut-off point is defined.

The universe includes formally registered businesses with less than five employees. The definition of formal registration can vary by country. For the survey in Zambia, a business that falls under any of the following two categories, in terms of registration, is considered as micro-enterprises: i) registered with Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and has less than 5 employees; and ii) registered with Zambia’s Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) and has council permit, but not registered with ZRA.

Note: See Sections II and IV of "The 2019 Zambia Micro-Enterprises Survey Dataset" report for additional details on the sampling procedure.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

The main data file is collected using a standardized questionnaire, i.e., the long-form questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed building on previous modules used by the Enterprise Analysis Unit of the World Bank to survey informal businesses and micro-enterprises.

Survey of innovation and business strategy, location of enterprises' subsidiaries, by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and enterprise size for Canada and regions from 2009 to today.

Survey of Heads of Companies & Orgs. With 4-99 Employees. Questions include: Employees paid $30,000 per year (1); benefits for full-time employees (4); federal budget surplus (1); satisfaction with health care system (3); Patients' Bill of Rights (5); Company health Insurance (17); Managed Core Plans (11); Problems with companies Insurance (4); Subsidized health insurance (1); employees own health insurance (2); Law & regulations for managed health care plans (26); Problems with managed care plans (6) (Source: Roper Center for Public Opinion Research).

Please Note: This dataset is part of the historical CISER Data Archive Collection and is also available at the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at https://doi.org/10.25940/ROPER-31096607. We highly recommend using the Roper Center version as they may make this dataset available in multiple data formats in the future.

This statistic shows the results of a survey question asking business executives where they thought companies could use big data sets to add the most value to their companies as of February 2012. **** percent of respondents highlighted business activity data as being key.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor [GEM] research program was developed to provide comparisons among countries related to participation of adults in the firm creation process. The initial data was assembled as a pretest of five countries in 1998 and by 2012 over 100 countries had been involved in the program. The initial design for the GEM initiative was based on the first US Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, and by 2012 data from 1,827,513 individuals had been gathered in 563 national samples and 6 specialized regional samples. This dataset is a harmonized file capturing results from all of the surveys. The procedure has been to harmonize the basic items across all surveys in all years, followed by implementing a standardized transform to identify those active as nascent entrepreneurs in the start-up process, as owner-managers of new firms, or as owner-managers of established firms. Those identified as nascent entrepreneurs or new business owners are the basis for the Total Entrepreneurial Activity [TEA] or Total Early-Stage index. This harmonized, consolidated assessment not only facilitates comparisons across countries, but provides a basis for temporal comparisons for individual countries. Respondents were queried on the following main topics: general entrepreneurship, start-up activities, ownership and management of the firm, and business angels (angel investors). Respondents were initially screened by way of a series of general questions pertaining to starting a business, such as whether they were currently trying to start a new business, whether they knew anyone who had started a new business, whether they thought it was a good time to start a new business, as well as their perceptions of the income potential and the prestige associated with starting a new business. Demographic variables include respondent age, sex, and employment status.

Survey of innovation and business strategy, enterprises that are subsidiaries of another enterprise, by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and enterprise size for Canada and regions from 2009 to today.

Abstract

The survey was conducted in Côte d'Ivoire between July 2016 and February 2017 as part of Enterprise Surveys project, an initiative of the World Bank. The objective of the survey is to obtain feedback from enterprises on the state of the private sector as well as to help in building a panel of enterprise data that will make it possible to track changes in the business environment over time, thus allowing, for example, impact assessments of reforms. Through interviews with firms in the manufacturing and services sectors, the survey assesses the constraints to private sector growth and creates statistically significant business environment indicators that are comparable across countries. Only registered businesses are surveyed in the Enterprise Survey.

Data from 361 establishments was analyzed. Stratified random sampling was used to select the surveyed businesses. The data was collected using face-to-face interviews.

The standard Enterprise Survey topics include firm characteristics, gender participation, access to finance, annual sales, costs of inputs and labor, workforce composition, bribery, licensing, infrastructure, trade, crime, competition, capacity utilization, land and permits, taxation, informality, business-government relations, innovation and technology, and performance measures. Over 90 percent of the questions objectively ascertain characteristics of a country’s business environment. The remaining questions assess the survey respondents’ opinions on what are the obstacles to firm growth and performance.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

The primary sampling unit of the study is an establishment. The establishment is a physical location where business is carried out and where industrial operations take place or services are provided. A firm may be composed of one or more establishments. For example, a brewery may have several bottling plants and several establishments for distribution. For the purposes of this survey an establishment must make its own financial decisions and have its own financial statements separate from those of the firm. An establishment must also have its own management and control over its payroll.

Universe

The whole population, or the universe, covered in the Enterprise Surveys is the non-agricultural private economy. It comprises: all manufacturing sectors according to the ISIC Revision 3.1 group classification (group D), construction sector (group F), services sector (groups G and H), and transport, storage, and communications sector (group I). Note that this population definition excludes the following sectors: financial intermediation (group J), real estate and renting activities (group K, except sub-sector 72, IT, which was added to the population under study), and all public or utilities sectors. Companies with 100% government ownership are not eligible to participate in the Enterprise Surveys.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Three levels of stratification were used in this country: industry, establishment size, and region.

Industry stratification was designed in the way that follows: the universe was stratified into Manufacturing industries (ISIC Rev. 3.1 codes 15 - 37), Retail Industries (ISIC code 52) and Other Services industries (ISIC codes 45, 50-51, 55, 60-64, and 72).

For the Côte d'Ivoire ES, size stratification was defined as follows: small (5 to 19 employees), medium (20 to 99 employees), and large (100 or more employees).

Regional stratification was done across two regions: Abidjan and the rest of the country. The rest of the country includes Bas-Sassandra, Sassandra-Marahoué, Gôh-Djiboua, Lagunes, and Yamoussoukro.

The sample frame consisted of listings of firms from two sources: for panel firms the list of 526 firms from the Côte d'Ivoire 2009 ES was used, and for fresh firms (i.e., firms not covered in 2009) lists obtained from the Central des Bilans database, INS 2012 was used.

Given the impact that non-eligible units included in the sample universe may have on the results, adjustments may be needed when computing the appropriate weights for individual observations. The percentage of confirmed non-eligible units as a proportion of the total number of sampled establishments contacted for the survey was 0.4% (3 out of 849 establishments).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The following survey instruments are available: - Manufacturing Module Questionnaire - Services Module Questionnaire

Questionnaires have common questions (core module) and respectfully additional manufacturing and services specific questions.

The eligible manufacturing industries have been surveyed using the Manufacturing questionnaire (includes the core module, plus manufacturing specific questions). Retail firms have been interviewed using the Services questionnaire (includes the core module plus retail specific questions) and the residual eligible services have been covered using the Services questionnaire (includes the core module). Each variation of the questionnaire is identified by the index variable, a0.

The survey is fielded via manufacturing or services questionnaires in order not to ask questions that are irrelevant to specific types of firms, e.g. a question that relates to production and nonproduction workers should not be asked of a retail firm. In addition to questions that are asked across countries, all surveys are customized and contain country-specific questions. An example of customization would be including tourism-related questions that are asked in certain countries when tourism is an existing or potential sector of economic growth.

Cleaning operations

Data entry and quality controls are implemented by the contractor and data is delivered to the World Bank in batches (typically 10%, 50% and 100%). These data deliveries are checked for logical consistency, out of range values, skip patterns, and duplicate entries. Problems are flagged by the World Bank and corrected by the implementing contractor through data checks, callbacks, and revisiting establishments.

Response rate

Survey non-response must be differentiated from item non-response. The former refers to refusals to participate in the survey altogether whereas the latter refers to the refusals to answer some specific questions. Enterprise Surveys suffer from both problems and different strategies were used to address these issues.

Item non-response was addressed by two strategies: a- For sensitive questions that may generate negative reactions from the respondent, such as corruption or tax evasion, enumerators were instructed to collect "Refusal to respond" (-8) as a different option from "Don't know" (-9). b- Establishments with incomplete information were re-contacted in order to complete this information, whenever necessary.

Survey non-response was addressed by maximizing efforts to contact establishments that were initially selected for interview. Attempts were made to contact the establishment for interview at different times/days of the week before a replacement establishment (with similar strata characteristics) was suggested for interview. Survey non-response did occur but substitutions were made in order to potentially achieve strata-specific goals.

The share of interviews per contacted establishments was 0.42. This number is the result of two factors: explicit refusals to participate in the survey, as reflected by the rate of rejection (which includes rejections of the screener and the main survey) and the quality of the sample frame, as represented by the presence of ineligible units. The share of rejections per contact was 0.51.

Linking of production and technologies from the perspective of Eastern European/Eastern German companies.

Topics: 1. Foreign investor: year of entry of the foreign investor into the enterprise (before 2000, 2000 or later); initial entry mode of the foreign investor; assessment of selected strategic motives of the foreign investor for participation in the enterprise (e.g. accessing a new foreign market, accessing location-bound natural resources, accessing location-bound knowledge and technology, cost advantages, etc.); own enterprise vs. foreign investor as exclusive or primary decision-making level in various business functions (e.g. finance and investment, strategic management, etc.).

1. Research, development and innovation in the enterprise from 2009 to 2011: expenditures for external R&D services 2009 to 2011; potential financial sources used to fund intra-mural R&D (e.g. the enterprise itself, the foreign investor´s headquarters, subsidiaries of the enterprise, competitors, foreign and domestic research institutions, etc.); number of R&D employees; the enterprise´s expenditure on R&D services by another entity, firm or organization in the last three years; partners commissioned by the enterprise to carry out external R&D services in the period 2009 to 2011.

2. Innovations: New or significantly improved products introduced or significantly improved by the Company within the last three years; development of these new and improved products; estimated share of products newly introduced or significantly improved in the years 2009 to 2011 of total Company sales in 2011; new or significantly improved production or delivery method(s), 2009 to 2011; development of these new or improved production or delivery methods; new or significantly improved organizational method(s) and distribution methods, 2009 to 2011.

3. Dissemination of research and development and innovation: importance of different sources of access to relevant knowledge for R&D and innovation in the enterprise (access to public and open information, acquisition of external knowledge (e.g. licenses or R&D services), cooperation with other units of the group, external companies or organizations); importance of potential cooperation partners as a source of relevant knowledge on research and development and innovation within the enterprise; measures taken by the enterprise or the group to protect intellectual property resulting from R&D and/or innovation(s) from 2009 to 2011; importance of methods used by the enterprise to protect intellectual property (z.B. Patent applications, registration of trademarks, copyrights, etc.); sharing knowledge with other business units or external companies as input for their R&D and innovation 2009 to 2011; sharing knowledge free of charge, for a fee or in exchange for something of value; free sharing of knowledge with e.g. other units of the foreign investor´s group of companies in the country, external suppliers in the country and abroad, etc.).

4. Relationship with customers and suppliers: estimated percentage of total enterprise sales accounted for by different buyers in 2011 (e.g. headquarters or other foreign investor units abroad, external foreign buyers, etc.); estimated percentage of total deliveries by different suppliers and inputs of the enterprise in 2011; assessment of the complexity of product specifications of external domestic enterprises; measures initiated by the enterprise by external domestic companies between 2009 and 2011 (increase in the production volume of existing goods or services, introduction of new or significantly improved products, introduction of new or significantly improved production or delivery methods).

Additionally coded was: ID; country of registered office; region of the enterprise in East Germany; information on the investor for companies in East Germany (subsidiary of a foreign investor or a West German multinational investor); size of enterprise (categorized); corporate sector; country code.

No abstract available