This project brings together 66 household surveys from new 22 countries (surveys from five other countries are under negotiation) into a common database to make studies of international economic comparisons easier. For instance, it includes Current Population Surveys from the U.S., French Surveys of Income, and a Hungarian Income Study. The average survey has approximately 9,000 households with more than 20,000 members. To maintain confidentiality and restrictions on use, the data remains on the host computer in Luxembourg and researchers run jobs remotely on that system through electronic mail. Users must first register to use the database.
They also have a database (Institutional Database, IDB) of nearly 100 annual macro indicators on all OECD countries. This database also contains rules on taxes and transfers in each country to make international comparisons possible. This dataset is available on floppy disks.
The datasets are well documented, and workshops and newsletters help the researcher to use this complex database.
In a switch of operating systems, planned for 1995, LIS will add SAS to their set of statistical packages.
Bill Goffe <bgoffe@whale.st.usm.edu>