Characteristics of Business Owners Survey

The 1992 Characteristics of Business Owners (CBO) Survey provides the only national data available for comparing selected economic, demographic, and sociological characteristics among minority, women, nonminority male, and all business owners and their businesses. The data from this sample survey are intended to augment data published in the 1992 Economic Census reports: Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises (SMOBE), MB92-1, -2, -3, and -4; and Survey of Women-Owned Businesses (WOB), WB92-1, which are limited to number of firms, employment, annual payroll, and gross receipts. The Minority Business Development Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration partially fund the CBO program and continuing research. The data are presented at the U.S. level only.

For initial highlights, see the Press Release or the detail in the Summary of Findings.

Publication: The Characteristics of Business Owners publication may be viewed and/or downloaded. Software which will view .PDF files is required. Order this publication. Also, see below for selected quick view data text files.

CD-ROM: CD-ROM_1j contains the Characteristics of Business Owners survey data. [1j is the final CD of the 1992 Economic Census CD-ROM series].

File updates (CD-ROM). Table 1: text patch, data (.dbf). Table 27: text file, data (.dbf).

CBO Documentation

[This survey "universe" includes all businesses (minority-, nonminority-, women-, and male-owned) with the exception of all "C" corporations. For more detail on this topic (especially note the matrix), see Legal Form of Organization and "C" Corporations].

Summary Characteristics of Business Owners and Their Business (Table 1).

Educational Background of Owner
Veteran Status of Owner
Home-Based Businesses When First Established/During 1992
Total Capital Needed by Owner to Start/Acquire the Business
Sources of Borrowed Capital for Owner
Sources of Borrowed Capital for Firm
Percent of Owner's Total Personal Income Produced From the Business