The ZEW Mannheim Enterprise Panel for the Analysis of Longitudinal Business Dynamism (MUP–LBD)

The ZEW Mannheim Enterprise Panel for the Analysis of Longitudinal Business Dynamism (MUP–LBD) is a comprehensive micro database of businesses observed in Germany, covering the period 2000–2023 and comprising about 8.7 million active business units. The database encompasses all types of businesses — from very small sole proprietors to large corporations — including both those registered at the commercial business register and those that are not. We describe the data sources, the processing steps required to construct a longitudinal research dataset, and the measurement of business entry and exit. TheMUP–LBD further contains information on businesses’ industry affiliation, geographic location, employment, and turnover. Based on this data, we document key facts on business dynamism in Germany, including declining entry rates, rising exit rates, a shrinking employment share of young firms, and structural shifts across sectors. By making these data accessible to researchers, we aim to foster a better understanding of the ongoing transformation of the German economy.

De Monte, Enrico, Thorsten Doherr, Jakob Ehlich, Lena Füner, Sandra Gottschalk, Simona Murmann und Hanna Hottenrott (2026), The ZEW Mannheim Enterprise Panel for the Analysis of Longitudinal Business Dynamism (MUP–LBD), ZEW Discussion Paper Nr. 26-044, Mannheim.