The value of private business in the United States

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Campbell, Richard Cole; Robbins, Jacob A.
• 署名单位: University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Chicago; University of Illinois Chicago Hospital
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105466
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Private business; valuation; wealth inequality

摘要

Private companies account for almost half of aggregate sales and profits of the US economy, but valuing them is difficult due to lack of public market data. This paper uses two databases of private business transactions to estimate valuation ratios and applies them to private business aggregates. We estimate aggregate private business wealth of $14.1 trillion in 2018, twice as large as measured in the Financial Accounts. Our estimates of partnership wealth are six times larger than Financial Accounts estimates, which value partnerships at book value with no adjustment from market based multiples.