National Institute of Economic and Social Research Further data linking with WERS 2004 John Forth WERS 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 data ONS 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 data ONS Annual Respondent Database (ARD2) matched onto WERS 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 progress ONS 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 –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 items Possible 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 items Possible 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.

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