National Instituteof Economic and Social Research

Further data linking with WERS 2004

John ForthWERS 2004 Information & Advice

Service

Rationale for data linking

• Rationale 1: – Extend the information set for each workplace or

employee

• Examples:– Augment workplace records with data on financial

performance

– Augment workplace records with data about wider enterprise

– Augment workplace or employee records with contextual data about the industry sector or occupation

Rationale for data linking

• Rationale 2: – Reduce measurement error in a particular item

• Examples:– Compare WERS data with external source of

information on legal status or foreign ownership

– Compare WERS financial performance data with other sources

Rationale for data linking

• Rationale 3: – Extend the information set for another dataset

• Example:– Add workplace data from WERS to a separate

workplace or employee-level dataset

Issues in data linking

• Confidentiality

• Extent and reliability of links

• Measurement error

• Loss of information

See also: Chesher and Nesheim (2006) DTI Occasional Paper No. 3.

Existing instance of linked dataONS Annual Respondent Database (ARD2) matched onto WERS 2004

– Data on financial performance of business units (from ABI)

– 847 (48%) of XS workplaces in trading sector (ASTATUS1<=8) have an ABI 2004 return in ARD2

– Offers data on value-added, profitability, labour costs, capex

– Low survey and item non-response

– Prospect of data for multiple years

– Issue: many returns (~80%) concern whole enterprise

– One solution: combine with FPQ data

Existing instance of linked dataONS Annual Respondent Database (ARD2) matched onto WERS 2004

– 1998-2004 Panel Survey: 166 (~25%) of trading sector w/ps have financial data for both years

– Issue: fewer than 30 have site-level data for both years; no WERS Financial Performance Questionnaire

– General issue: available only in ONS Virtual Micro-data Lab

Further info: Forth and McNabb (2007) WIAS Technical Paper No.1

Work in progressONS Business Structure Database matched onto

WERS 2004– Version of the IDBR prepared for research use

– Provides info on legal status and country of ownership

– Provides information on enterprises’ internal structure

– Provides info on demographic events: birth, death, merger, takeover

– BSD record available for 2,143 (93%) of XS workplaces

– One potential use: identify siblings for 714 (45%) of the XS workplaces that belong to multi-plant enterprises

Work in progress

WERS 2004 matched onto the ONS Annual Survey of Earnings and Hours (ASHE)– Annual survey of 165,000 employees

– Detailed information about hours and earnings (basic, overtime, incentive payments, pension arrangements)

– WERS can provide more information about the employer

– Around 5,000 ASHE records (3%) link to XS workplaces

– In most cases (95%), there are 2+ ASHE records per workplace

– One potential use: examine union impact on composition of earnings

Further opportunities at ONS

• Surveys deriving from IDBR (to be investigated):– Community Innovation Survey (CIS4): data on

product/process innovation and R&D from 16,000 enterprises over period 2002-2004

– E-commerce Inquiry: annual survey of 10,000 enterprises covering access to ICT and e-commerce activity

– Annual Inquiry into Foreign Direct Investment: annual survey of 16,000 enterprises covering foreign ownership and financial flows

Matching on summary data itemsPossible options (dependent on demand):

• Industry: – Levels: down to SIC 2003 Class / Sub-class level

– Examples: aggregate productivity, profitability, labour costs

• Occupation:– Levels: down to SOC 2000 Minor Group

– Examples: composition by gender, ethnicity, age; average qualifications; average wages

Matching on summary data itemsPossible options (dependent on demand):

• Geography: – Levels: any postcode-based classification that

does not compromise the anonymity of respondents. See National Statistics Postcode Directory for options.

– Examples: unemployment and vacancy rates by TTWA; profile of labour force in TTWA; urban/rural indicator.

Comments and suggestions

WERS Information and Advice Service

URL: http://www.wers2004.info

Email: wers2004@niesr.ac.uk

Telephone: +44(0) 20 7654 1933