Definitions:
The 1992 Women-Owned Businesses and the 1992 Survey of Minority-Owned Business
Enterprises (SMOBE) provide basic economic data on businesses owned by women,
Blacks, persons of Hispanic or Latin American ancestry, and persons of Asian,
Pacific Islander, American Indian, or Alaska Native descent. The survey is based
on the entire firm rather than on establishments of a firm. The published data
cover number of firms, gross receipts, number of paid employees, and annual
payroll.
A firm may operate one place of business or more, such as
a chain of restaurants, or have no fixed business location, such as the firm
represented by a self-employed carpenter or salesperson. A firm contrasts with
an establishment, which is a single physical location at which business is conducted.
Other data from the Economic Census are reported on an establishment basis rather
than a firm basis.
A firm is classified as women-owned using the gender codes
obtained from the SSA for individual proprietors or from information reported
for the majority of owners of partnerships and corporations.
The race categories used in this survey are the same as those
defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in their circular No. A-46,
dated May 12, 1977.
Scope and Methodology:
Data for minority-owned firms were obtained from a sample of firms identified
as possibly minority-owned based on race and ethnic codes from social security
records and by matching surnames of owners to lists of minority surnames from
the most recent population census of the United States.
Data for 1992 include sole proprietorships, partnerships, and Subchapter S
corporations, but not regular (C) corporations. Thus, these statistics account
for most firms, but, since most large corporations are excluded, they account
for only about a quarter of the receipts and employment of all firms. (1997
data will cover all firms.) Women- and Minority-Owned Firms