Expanding International Microdata Access: Linked German Survey and Administrative Data

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This project maintains and expands international data sharing between the German Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and US researchers. The principle is to provide researchers with increased ease of access to confidential survey and administrative data while maintaining data security by establishing a secure connection between secure Research Data Centers or data enclaves which share comparable standards with regard to data and confidentiality protection. The PIs have piloted this approach with the establishment of such a data enclave at the Michigan Center for the Demography of Aging at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. This award builds on the pilot by supporting the continued operation of the Michigan enclave and the expansion to other locations in the US Research Data Center network, including locations at Cornell and the University of California, Berkeley.The data sharing arrangement allows qualified researchers access to extremely rich German survey and administrative data. The data can be linked, have a panel structure, and cover all firms and employees in Germany (including the former East Germany) from 1975 to the present. These data will be used in cutting-edge statistical analyses that compare US and German labor markets, macroeconomic dynamics, international trade, and industrial organization. The data are also useful for a wide range of methodological research. The project also contributes to graduate education; the ease of access to the German data means that graduate students can practice advanced data analysis skills in a practical way.