Photo of Ryan A. Decker

Ryan A. Decker

Education

  • Ph.D., Economics, University of Maryland, 2015
  • M.A., Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, 2013
  • B.S., Economics/Political Science, Brigham Young University, 2010
Current Research Topics
  • Firm dynamics/Entrepreneurship
  • Economic measurement
  • Chief, Industrial Output Section

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2024 - present
  • Special Adviser to the Board

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2023 - 2024
  • Principal Economist

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2020 - present
  • Senior Economist

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2018 - 2020
  • Adjunct Professor

    University of Maryland College Park

    2016 - 2018
  • Economist

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2015 - 2018
  • Economist

    Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau

    2011 - 2015
  • High tech business entry in the pandemic era
    Ryan Decker and John Haltiwanger
    FEDS Notes (2024)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.3499
  • Rising Markups and Declining Business Dynamism: Evidence From the Industry Cross Section
    Brian C. Albrecht and Ryan A. Decker
    FEDS Notes (2024)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.3471
  • Boom Town Business Dynamics
    Ryan A. Decker, Meagan McCollum, and Gregory B. Upton Jr.
    Journal of Human Resources (2024)
    https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0221-11501R1
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2020)
  • Payroll Employment at the Weekly Frequency
    Tomaz Cajner, Leland D. Crane, Ryan A. Decker, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz
    American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings (2023)
    https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20231052
  • A note on industry concentration measurement
    Ryan A. Decker and Jacob Williams
    FEDS Notes (2023)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.3256
  • Business exit during the COVID-19 pandemic: Non-traditional measures in historical context
    Leland D. Crane, Ryan A. Decker, Aaron Flaaen, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz
    Journal of Macroeconomics (2022)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmacro.2022.103419
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2021)
  • Business entry and exit in the COVID-19 pandemic: A preliminary look at official data
    Ryan A. Decker and John Haltiwanger
    FEDS Notes (2022)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.3129
  • Improving the Accuracy of Economic Measurement with Multiple Data Sources: The Case of Payroll Employment Data
    Tomaz Cajner, Leland D. Crane, Ryan A. Decker, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz
    National Bureau of Economic Research Studies in Income and Wealth (2022)
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2019)
  • Across the Universe: Policy Support for Employment and Revenue in the Pandemic Recession
    Ryan A. Decker, Robert J. Kurtzman, Byron F. Lutz, and Christopher J. Nekarda
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2021)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2020.099r1
  • Across the Universe: Policy Support for Employment and Revenue in the Pandemic Recession
    Ryan A. Decker, Robert J. Kurtzman, Byron F. Lutz, and Christopher J. Nekarda
    American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings (2021)
    https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20211058
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2021)
  • Changing Business Dynamism and Productivity: Shocks versus Responsiveness
    Ryan A. Decker, John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda
    American Economic Review (2020)
    https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20190680
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2018)
  • Tracking Labor Market Developments during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Preliminary Assessment
    Tomaz Cajner, Leland D. Crane, Ryan A. Decker, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2020)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2020.030
  • The US Labor Market during the Beginning of the Pandemic Recession
    Tomaz Cajner, Leland D. Crane, Ryan A. Decker, John Grigsby, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, Erik Hurst, Christopher Kurz, and Ahu Yildirmaz
    Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2020)
    https://doi.org/10.1353/eca.2020.0005
  • Tracking the Labor Market with "Big Data"
    Tomaz Cajner, Leland D. Crane, Ryan A. Decker, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz
    FEDS Notes (2019)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.2441
  • Business Dynamics in the National Establishment Time Series (NETS)
    Leland D. Crane and Ryan A. Decker
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2019)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2019.034
  • Using Payroll Processor Microdata to Measure Aggregate Labor Market Activity
    Tomaz Cajner, Leland Crane, Ryan Decker, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, Christopher Kurz, and Tyler Radler
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2018)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2018.005
  • Entrepreneurship and State Taxation
    E. Mark Curtis and Ryan A. Decker
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2018)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2018.003
  • An Assessment of the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) Database
    Keith Barnatchez, Leland D. Crane, and Ryan A. Decker
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2017)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2017.110
  • Natural Disasters and the Measurement of Industrial Production: Hurricane Harvey, A Case Study
    Kimberly Bayard, Ryan Decker, and Charles Gilbert
    FEDS Notes (2017)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.2086
  • Declining Dynamism, Allocative Efficiency, and the Productivity Slowdown
    Ryan A. Decker, John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda
    American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings (2017)
    https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20171020
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2017)
  • Declining Business Dynamism: What We Know and the Way Forward
    Ryan A. Decker, John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda
    American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings (2016)
    https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20161050
  • Unraveling the Oil Conundrum: Productivity Improvements and Cost Declines in the U.S. Shale Oil Industry
    Ryan A. Decker, Aaron Flaaen, and Maria D. Tito
    FEDS Notes (2016)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.1736
  • Where Has All the Skewness Gone? The Decline in High-Growth (Young) Firms in the U.S.
    Ryan A. Decker, John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, and Javier Miranda
    European Economic Review (2016)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2015.12.013
  • Market Exposure and Endogenous Firm Volatility Over the Business Cycle
    Ryan Decker, Pablo D'Erasmo, and Herman J. Moscoso Boedo
    American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics (2016)
    https://doi.org/10.1257/mac.20130011
  • The Role of Entrepreneurship in US Job Creation and Economic Dynamism
    Ryan Decker, John Haltiwanger, Ron Jarmin, and Javier Miranda
    Journal of Economic Perspectives (2014)
    https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.28.3.3
  • discussion

    July 2024

    NBER Summer Institute CRIW

    New U.S. Business Establishments: Surging or Stalling?

  • discussion

    June 2024

    Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee (FESAC) meeting

    Expanding the Frontier of Economic Statistics Using Big Data by Dunn, English, Hood, Mason, Quistorff

  • conference

    May 2024

    The Austin Symposium

    Recent Patterns of New Business Creation

  • seminar

    November 2023

    Economic Innovation Group

    Surging Business Formation in the Pandemic: Causes and Consequences?

  • conference

    September 2023

    Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Fall 2023

    Surging Business Formation in the Pandemic: Causes and Consequences?

  • discussion

    July 2023

    NBER Summer Institute CRIW

    Consumption Zones

  • conference

    March 2023

    Kent Macro Workshop

    Markups and Business Dynamism Across Industries

  • conference

    September 2022

    US-UK Working Group on Dynamism and Opportunity

    Business Formation Patterns Before and During the Pandemic

  • discussion

    July 2022

    NBER Summer Institute CRIW

    Structural Change Within Versus Across Firms: Evidence from the United States by Ding, Fort, Redding, and Schott

  • conference

    December 2021

    Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee (FESAC) meeting

    Measuring Business Exit

  • seminar

    October 2021

    UNSW CAER Workshop

    Business Exit During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Non-traditional Measures in Historical Context

  • discussion

    September 2021

    4th IMF Macro-Financial Research Conference

    Small and Vulnerable: SME Productivity in the Great Productivity Slowdown by Chen and Lee

  • conference

    July 2021

    NBER Summer Institute (CRIW)

    Business Exit During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Non-traditional Measures in Historical Context

  • discussion

    June 2021

    OECD Productivity Policy for Places workshop

    Productivity and Resilience in COVID-19: A U.S. Perspective

  • conference

    June 2021

    The Brookings Center for Regulation and Markets Graduate Workshop 3: Research and Data at the Federal Reserve Board

    Business Exit During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Non-traditional Measures in Historical Context

  • conference

    January 2021

    ASSA 2021

    Across the Universe: Policy Support for Employment and Revenue in the Pandemic Recession

  • conference

    November 2020

    Banca d'Italia & FRB joint conference on nontraditional data

    Business Exit During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Non-traditional Measures in Historical Context

  • discussion

    November 2020

    Federal Reserve System Macro conference

    COVID-19 and SME Failures

  • seminar

    October 2020

    CAED Seminar Series

    Business Exit During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Non-traditional Measures in Historical Context

  • seminar

    August 2020

    ITAM Business School

    Tracking the Labor Market with Big Data in the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • conference

    July 2020

    NBER Summer Institute (Entrepreneurship group)

    Research with Private Sector Business Microdata: The Case of NETS/D&B

  • discussion

    June 2020

    Workshop on Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation

    Value without Employment

  • seminar

    June 2020

    New York Fed

    Tracking Labor Market Developments during the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • seminar

    March 2020

    Southern Methodist University O'Neil Center

    Changing Business Dynamism and Productivity: Shocks vs. Responsiveness

  • conference

    January 2020

    Kenan Institute Frontiers of Entrepreneurship

    High-Growth Firms: A Macro Perspective

  • conference

    January 2020

    ASSA

    Boom Town Business Dynamics

  • discussion

    January 2020

    ASSA

    Diverging Trends in National and Local Concentration

  • discussion

    October 2019

    Federal Reserve System Energy Conference

    Non-Renewable Resources, Extraction Technology and Endogenous Growth

  • discussion

    August 2019

    JPMCC New Directions in Commodities Research Symposium

    The Propogation of Regional Shocks in Housing Markets: Evidence from Oil Price Shocks in Canada

  • conference

    May 2019

    Comparative Analysis of Enterprise Data (CAED) Conference

    Business Dynamics in the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) Database

  • discussion

    April 2019

    Duke/UNC Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Conference

    Entrepreneurship over the Lifecycle: Where Are the Young Entrepreneurs?

  • seminar

    March 2019

    Resources for the Future

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • seminar

    March 2019

    York University

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • conference

    January 2019

    Kenan Institute Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Conference

    The Critical Role of New Firms

  • seminar

    December 2018

    Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • seminar

    November 2018

    Oberlin College

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • seminar

    November 2018

    Oberlin College

    Entrepreneurship and the U.S. Economy

  • seminar

    October 2018

    University of Hong Kong

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • seminar

    October 2018

    Singapore Management University

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • discussion

    September 2018

    Economic History Association annual meeting

    The Impact of Business Cycle Conditions on Firm Dynamics and Composition: Enterprise Entry and Exit in Egypt, 1911-48.

  • conference

    August 2018

    JPMCC New Directions in Commodities Research Symposium

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • conference

    July 2018

    NBER Summer Institute (Entrepreneurship group)

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • conference

    June 2018

    OECD/Bank of Canada Global Forum on Productivity

    Changing Business Dynamism and Productivity: Shocks vs. Responsiveness

  • conference

    June 2018

    IFN Stockholm Entrepreneurship and Innovation Workshop

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • seminar

    May 2018

    Union College

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • seminar

    May 2018

    Union College

    Entrepreneurship and the U.S. Economy

  • seminar

    March 2018

    National Association of Realtors

    Entrepreneurship and State Taxation

  • seminar

    February 2018

    George Mason University applied micro group

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • conference

    January 2018

    Kenan Institute Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Conference

    Young Firms in the U.S.

  • discussion

    January 2018

    ASSA

    High Growth Entrepreneurship

  • conference

    January 2018

    ASSA

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • seminar

    October 2017

    Brigham Young University

    Changing Business Dynamism and Productivity: Shocks vs. Responsiveness

  • conference

    September 2017

    Federal Reserve System Energy Meeting

    Firm Dynamics and Local Economic Shocks: Evidence from the Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • conference

    May 2017

    UNC IDEA workshop

    Changing Business Dynamism and Productivity: Shocks vs. Responsiveness

  • conference

    May 2017

    Midwest Macroeconomics Group Spring Conference

    Changing Business Dynamism and Productivity: Shocks vs. Responsiveness

  • conference

    May 2017

    NBER State Business Taxation workshop

    Entrepreneurship and State Policy

  • conference

    November 2016

    Southern Economic Association meetings

    Entrepreneurship and State Policy

  • conference

    October 2016

    NBER Entrepreneurship & Economic Growth conference

    Entrepreneurship and State Policy

  • discussion

    June 2016

    AREUEA National Conference

    Discussion: Local Labor Market Shocks and Residential Mortgage Payments: Evidence from Shale Oil and Gas Boom

  • seminar

    April 2016

    Drexel University

    Changing Business Dynamism: Volatility of Shocks vs. Responsiveness to Shocks?

  • conference

    February 2016

    NBER Entrepreneurship & Economic Growth pre-conference

    Entrepreneurship and State Policy

  • seminar

    March 2015

    George Mason University

    Where Has All the Skewness Gone? The Decline in High-Growth (Young) Firms in the U.S.

  • seminar

    October 2014

    University of Mississippi

    Collateral Damage: Housing, Entrepreneurship, and Job Creation

  • seminar

    June 2014

    The Heritage Foundation Center for Data Analysis

    The Secular Decline in Business Dynamism in the U.S.

  • conference

    November 2013

    Midwest Macroeconomics Group Fall Conference

    Market Exposure and Endogenous Firm Volatility over the Business Cycle

  • conference

    November 2012

    APPAM Fall Research Conference

    The Secular Decline in Business Dynamism in the U.S.

Awards
  • 2024

    Division of Research & Statistics

    Division Director's Award

Conference Organization
  • 2019-2020 | Raleigh-Durham, NC

    Kenan Institute Entrepreneurship Trends Report - Ecosystems

    Advisory Committee

  • January 2019 | Atlanta, GA

    Society of Government Economists (SGE) ASSA meeting

    Program Committee

  • May 2017 | Baton Rouge, LA

    Mid-West Macroeconomics Meeting

    Program Committee

Referee
  • AEJ: Economic Policy
  • AEJ: Macroeconomics
  • American Economic Review
  • AER: Insights
  • BE Journal of Macroeconomics
  • Canadian Journal of Economics
  • Congressional Budget Office draft review
  • Econometrica
  • Economic Inquiry
  • Economic Journal
  • Economica
  • Economics Letters
  • Energy Economics
  • Energy Journal
  • European Economic Review
  • Health Economics
  • International Economic Review
  • Journal of Applied Econometrics
  • Journal of Econometrics
  • Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
  • Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control
  • Journal of Economic Growth
  • Journal of the European Economic Association
  • Journal of Labor Economics
  • Journal of Macroeconomics
  • Journal of Monetary Economics
  • Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking
  • Journal of Political Economy
  • Journal of Productivity Analysis
  • Journal of Public Economics
  • Labour Economics
  • Management Science
  • National Science Foundation
  • National Tax Journal
  • NBER grant proposals
  • Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics
  • Oxford Economic Papers
  • Quarterly Journal of Economics
  • Rand Journal of Economics
  • Regional Science and Urban Economics
  • Research Policy
  • Review of Economic Dynamics
  • Review of Economics and Statistics
  • Review of Economic Studies
  • Review of Financial Economics
  • Review of Financial Studies
  • Small Business Administration draft study review
  • Small Business Economics
  • Sustainability
  • U.S. Census Bureau/FSRDC proposals
Professional Affiliation
  • Conference on Research in Income and Wealth (CRIW)
  • Special Sworn Status Researcher, U.S. Census Bureau
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Last Update: August 2, 2024