ABSTRACT
Information about business is itself a very profitable business, serving a large market of information-hungry investors. The Controversies section focuses on one fundamental aspect of business statistics: the many ways to measure business size, including sales, assets, stock market price, and profits. The financial distress of the Great Depression, coupled with complaints about corporate misrepresentation, led to the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1933. The SEC's financial disclosure requirements for stockholders are fulfilled by the annual report, a publication expanded by most corporations to a multipage glossy magazine that advertises the company's investment potential. For research on a number of corporations, it is most convenient to consult handbooks containing data collected by private companies such as Moody's, Standard and Poor's, Value Line, and Dun and Brad-street. Many research projects require aggregate statistics, that is, combined data for groups of businesses, perhaps in a single location or in a single line of business.
