Regulation

1. 1

   Forty-five (45) percent of American small employers now consider government regulation a “very serious” business problem, up 28 percentage points from 2001. Meanwhile, 10 percent do not consider it a business problem, down 19 percentage points over the same period. Owners of larger, small businesses are more likely to think regulation is a serious problem than owners of smaller, small businesses.

2. 2

   Additional paperwork is most frequently cited (24%) as the primary adverse impact of regulation, followed by the dollars spent to comply (21%) and understanding what is necessary to achieve compliance (17%). The distribution of perceived impacts is similar to the distribution recorded in 2001.

3. 3

   The regulatory problem is more commonly thought of as the volume of rules emanating from a great variety of agencies (and levels of government) (62%) contrasted to a focused set of them emanating from a concentrated number of rule-making authorities (28%).

4. 4

   Forty-nine (49) percent of small employers identify the federal government as the level causing them the most regulatory problems. The states receive the second most number of cites (33%) followed by local jurisdictions (12%).

5. 5

   The most frequent small-business owner concern arises over tax-related regulations (39%). Environmental regulation, including zoning and land use, was cited with second greatest frequency (16%), followed by economic and operational (14%), health and safety (13%) and employeerelated (11%). Seven percent could not decide.

6. 6

   The narrower regulatory areas of special small-business concern include: employee taxes and withholding, various operating rules, financial rules, sales and use taxes, and land use (including zoning and run-off).

7. 7

   The large majority (71%) of small employers discover new and/or modified regulations in the normal course of doing business. In contrast, 21 percent typically discover them through systematic search. The proportion systematically searching has fallen 10 percentage points in the last 11 years.

8. 8

   Those owners who locate new and/or modified regulations through conventional operating business channels often find relevant information from other similarly affected business owners, outside business advisors like lawyers or accountants, and trade association publications or Web sites.

9. 9

   Those owners who locate new and/or modified regulations through systematic search typically explore a variety of sources. However, the most common (75%) is the Web site of a pertinent agency.

10. 10

    Both those who discover regulations in their normal business routine and systematic searchers commonly discover new and/or modified regulatory information through direct contacts from regulatory agencies, including flyers, advisory letters, etc.

11. 11

    The manager (owner) is the person most likely (69%) to determine how the firm will come into regulatory compliance. The small employer will typically hire an “expert” in 14 percent of cases and assign compliance to an employee in 11 percent of them. Five percent say that different situations require different people to determine appropriate compliance activity.

12. 12

    Small-business owners and managers who put themselves in charge of regulatory compliance tend to adopt one of two approaches: the first relies heavily on private networks, such as other business owners; the second relies heavily on public networks, such as direct contact with the regulatory agency. Web searches are commonly employed by both groups.

Volume 12, Issue 6, 2012
ISSN 1534-8326

William J. Dennis, Jr.
NFIB Research Foundation

• 1Is government regulation in the United States a very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not at all serious problem for your business?
• 2What is the single greatest problem created for your business by government regulation? Is it the:?
• 3Which level of American government creates the most serious regulatory problems for you? Is it the:?
• 4What type of regulations, federal, state or local, cause the greatest difficulties for you? Is it:?
• 5Is there a second type of regulations that causes you considerable difficulty?
• 5aWould you describe them as:?
• 5bWhat type of health and safety regulations cause the greatest problems for you?
• 5cWhat type of employment-related regulations cause the greatest problems for you?
• 5dWhat type of tax-related regulations cause the greatest problems for you?
• 5eWhat type of environmental regulations cause the greatest problems for you?
• 5fWhat type of economic, competition or operational regulations cause the greatest problems for you?
• 6Some identify their regulatory problems as a specific regulation or regulatory agency. Others identify their problems as the overall volume of regulations coming from many agencies. Which BEST describes the source of your regulatory problems? Do you think that way strongly or not too strongly?
• 7Which BEST describes how you typically discover a new rule or regulation that you must follow? Do you:?
• 7a1Web sites of pertinent agencies
• 7a2The Federal Register or a similar state list of agency rule-makings
• 7a3Trade publications, trade Web sites or conferences
• 7a4Notices from an agency mailing list that you are on
• 7b1Popular media such as radio or newspapers
• 7b2Outside advisors such as an accountant or lawyer
• 7b3Trade publications or trade Web sites
• 7b4Direct contacts from a regulatory agency, such as inspectors, advisory letters OR flyers
• 7b5Other affected business owners
• 7b6Suppliers
• 8Once you have learned there is a rule you probably must comply with, who is responsible for investigating HOW you are supposed to comply with it: Do you usually:?
• 9aTalk to other business owners who might be affected in the same way
• 9bAsk the agency that made the rule for more information
• 9cAttend a relevant seminar or convention session
• 9dTalk to an “expert” about the rules
• 9eSearch the Web for relevant material
• 9fCheck with an appropriate trade association or business organization