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Recent data suggest a continuous decline in the business creation rates across business sectors and regions in the USA. While there are a few factors (such as a decline in population and an increase in business consolidation) that seem to collectively explain some of the trend for at least some areas, the overall phenomenon is still not understood. This study contributes to this line of research by assessing the relationship between economic development and business creation rates in an international setting. This study uses an 8-year and 130 countries (unbalanced) panel dataset to analyze this relationship. It finds the relationship between economic development and business creation rates to be linear and negative suggesting that the USA is not an outlier, and that business creation rates decrease in other developed economies as well. Since previous studies suggested that a decrease in business formation rates will impact the economy negatively, policymakers need to take corrective actions such as subsidies for new businesses and taxes for established ones.

In order to prepare for the political and economic implications of NAFTA and FTAA the U.S. needs to encourage further research that leads to a quantification of the short-term benefits and losses, even if most economists, business leaders, and government officials agree that in the long term the countries and populations involved will all benefit.

Researchers are showing lately an increased interest toward the special event tourist niche, mostly due to the growth in demand for manifestations such as exhibitions, festivals and other historical and cultural displays. Besides meeting demand, special events are organized having in mind many other outcomes, one of them being their economic impact. Indeed, they may lead to an influx of funds in the area that in turn leads to increased sales, therefore to an increase in income and to the creation of new jobs. It is important that this type of events is analyzed allowing for better allocation of resources as well as for better planning of future similar events. Furthermore, estimating the event's possible economic impact in the planning phase could also lead to a much higher efficiency hence a more successful event. This study analyzes two of the most successful special events organized in Mississippi that attracted over 500,000 and 300,000 visitors. The study presents interesting findings related to patron profile as well as to their potential economic impact suggesting that such events may indeed lead to a significant increase in economic activity.

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