The creation of an experimental longitudinal database of business micro-data

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zeli, Alessandro

Affiliations: Istat. Division for Data Analysis and Economic, Social and Environmental Research, Viale Liegi 13, Rome, Italy | Tel.: +39 646737282; E-mail: zeli@istat.it

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Istat. Division for Data Analysis and Economic, Social and Environmental Research, Viale Liegi 13, Roma, Italy. Tel.: +39 646737282; E-mail: zeli@istat.it.

Abstract: In recent years there has been an increasing need to extend the research potential of micro-level business data by allowing dynamic analyses via panel datasets. One option, using official statistics to build a firm level data panel, is to exploit archival data. However, an endemic problem with this approach is the management of firms transformational events: mergers, splits and spin-offs. This paper considers a way to address this problem. It describes the operative procedures utilized in building an experimental panel starting from firm-level databases available from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat).

Keywords: Panel building, event of transformation, firm-level data, business register, event register

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-180457

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 43, no. 3-4, pp. 143-167, 2018