The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a dramatic plunge in U.S. economic activity, leading many small businesses to shut their doors and leaving many more in precarious financial conditions. Anticipating further widespread hardship, Congress introduced the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to provide forgivable loans to small businesses. This policy brief provides an overview of research assessing the PPP’s effectiveness in achieving its primary goal of sustaining small business employment. To examine the PPP’s effects in detail, the researchers analyze administrative data from Automatic Data Processing Inc.—one of the world’s largest providers of personnel management services, covering more than 25 million workers in the United States.
Changing Rent-Sharing in the Economy
Policy Briefs
An Evaluation of the Paycheck Protection Program Using Administrative Payroll Microdata
Cato Research Briefs in Economic Policy
November 2022