Data

Data is the basis of formulating and evaluating your theory/model. It can be primary (collected by the researcher) or secondary (collected by other people). In economic and finance research, secondary data are usually used (unless you are working on experimental economics or behavioural economics). This webpage summarises some frequently used secondary databases. Some are original data sources, while the others are data compilation service providers. (Please email me if any of the hyperlinks below no longer work.)

Original Data Sources:

• Central Banks:

  • FRED: US-based macroeconomic data (e.g. GDP, inflation, unemployment, etc.) by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

  • BoE Statistics: UK-based macroeconomic data (e.g. monetary policy) by Bank of England.

    • Research Datasets: the longest economic historical data in the world.

  • 中国人民银行: China-based macroeconomic data (e.g. exchange rate) by the People's Bank of China.

• Statistical Authorities:

  • BLS: US-based macroeconomic data (e.g. labour market) by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

  • ONS: UK-based macroeconomic data (e.g. GDP, trade, population, etc.) by Office for National Statistics.

  • 国家统计局: China-based macroeconomic data (e.g. GDP, trade, population, etc.) by National Bureau of Statistics of China.

• Specialised Research Institutes:

  • GEM: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (e.g. entrepreneurial survey).

  • WID: global inequality data (e.g. income distribution).

  • MeasuringWorth: long-term historical data on wages, prices, income, etc. for a number of countries.

Data Service Providers:

• Not-for-profit providers (free):

  • IPUMS: US-based census and survey data (e.g. US census microdata, census microdata covering 82 countries).

  • UKDS: UK-based census and survey data (e.g. labour force survey microdata, international macrodata).

  • OECD Data: OECD macrodata (e.g. education, health, etc.).

  • World Bank Data: global macrodata (e.g. GDP, population, etc.).

• Commercial providers (not free but may be paid by the university):

  • Thomson Reuters Datastream: financial and macroeconomic data (e.g. FTSE100, GDP, CPI, etc.).

  • Bloomberg Database: financial and macroeconomic data (e.g. hedge funds).

    • Click here for a comparison between Datastream and Bloomberg.

  • CEIC: macroeconomic data for countries and cities.

  • Wind资讯: China-based financial and macroeconomic data.