Small Businesses

commentary

Small Businesses Need the Right Kind of Help to Survive the Economic Impact of COVID-19

Small and medium-sized companies are less equipped than large ones to weather the devastating effects of the pandemic. What could policymakers do to help these businesses get the help they need?

Joanna Hofman @JoannaBHofman

commentary

A Path to Recovery from COVID-19 for Small Businesses

The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered small businesses around the United States. We spoke with 21 small business owners to learn more about the challenges they are facing and how they might best be helped.

C. Richard Neu, Diana Gehlhaus, et al.

blog

COVID-19's Effects on U.S. Schools, Vaccine Uptake, Small Businesses: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how COVID-19 has affected U.S. schools, potential barriers to vaccine uptake, what small businesses need to survive, and more.

commentary

The Danger of Converting a Health Crisis into a Financial Crisis

The impulse to do something to help businesses right now is well-intended, but lending to companies that were highly leveraged pre-crisis is a risky bet. Assistance could be best directed toward sound enterprises that are likely to survive and contribute to boosting the economy in the coming years.

Krishna B. Kumar @kbkumar_, Shanthi Nataraj, et al.

q&a

The Social Distancing Economy: Q&A with RAND Experts

Congress and the White House are weighing economic policies to help people acutely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Here are insights from RAND experts on what might be effective in terms of fiscal policy, stimulus spending, and emergency relief to affected workers.

commentary

Helping Small Businesses Deal with Cyber Threats

Small businesses are especially vulnerable to cyber threats. What can be done to provide small businesses the security to continue to prosper, while enhancing America's cybersecurity workforce and making the economy more secure?

Quentin E. Hodgson @QHodgson

commentary

Employer-Provided Health Insurance: Why Does It Persist, and Will It Continue after 2014?

As the ACA is implemented, policy makers should be attuned to potential inefficiencies and inequities created by a system with different regulatory and tax rules for small employers, large employers, and individual health plans. Attempts to equalize the playing field may be difficult.

Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner

commentary

Will Small Firms Self-Insure After Jan. 1, 2014?

Because of the ACA's regulations, some smaller employers with young and healthy workers are considering avoiding the purchase of health care coverage in the regulated market, opting instead to self-insure their employees.

Amado Cordova, Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner

blog

Would the Affordable Care Act Lead to Reductions in Employer-Sponsored Coverage?

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) individual mandate, one of the questions being debated is what effect the mandate would have on employer-sponsored health insurance coverage. A factor to consider in this is the effect the ACA would have on small businesses, which employ the majority of America's private-sector workforce.