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Employment that is not covered by state unemployment
January 2002
Working Paper Number:
tp-2002-16
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A Guide to the MEPS-IC Government List Sample Microdata
September 2011
Working Paper Number:
CES-11-27
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component (MEPS-IC) is conducted to provide nationally representative estimates on employer sponsored health insurance. MEPSIC data are collected from private sector employers, as well as state and local governments. While similar information is gathered from these two sectors, differences in the survey process exist. The goal of this paper is to provide details on the public sector including types of state and local government employers, sample design, general information on the data collected in the MEPS-IC, and additional sources of information.
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NOISE INFUSION AS A CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTION MEASURE FOR GRAPH-BASED STATISTICS
September 2014
Working Paper Number:
CES-14-30
We use the bipartite graph representation of longitudinally linked em-ployer-employee data, and the associated projections onto the employer and em-ployee nodes, respectively, to characterize the set of potential statistical summar-ies that the trusted custodian might produce. We consider noise infusion as the primary confidentiality protection method. We show that a relatively straightfor-ward extension of the dynamic noise-infusion method used in the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Workforce Indicators can be adapted to provide the same confidentiality guarantees for the graph-based statistics: all inputs have been modified by a minimum percentage deviation (i.e., no actual respondent data are used) and, as the number of entities contributing to a particular statistic increases, the accuracy of that statistic approaches the unprotected value. Our method also ensures that the protected statistics will be identical in all releases based on the same inputs.
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Design Comparison of LODES and ACS Commuting Data Products
October 2014
Working Paper Number:
CES-14-38
The Census Bureau produces two complementary data products, the American Community Survey (ACS) commuting and workplace data and the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), which can be used to answer questions about spatial, economic, and demographic questions relating to workplaces and home-to-work flows. The products are complementary in the sense that they measure similar activities but each has important unique characteristics that provide information that the other measure cannot. As a result of questions from data users, the Census Bureau has created this document to highlight the major design differences between these two data products. This report guides users on the relative advantages of each data product for various analyses and helps explain differences that may arise when using the products.2,3
As an overview, these two data products are sourced from different inputs, cover different populations and time periods, are subject to different sets of edits and imputations, are released under different confidentiality protection mechanisms, and are tabulated at different geographic and characteristic levels. As a general rule, the two data products should not be expected to match exactly for arbitrary queries and may differ substantially for some queries.
Within this document, we compare the two data products by the design elements that were deemed most likely to contribute to differences in tabulated data. These elements are: Collection, Coverage, Geographic and Longitudinal Scope, Job Definition and Reference Period, Job and Worker Characteristics, Location Definitions (Workplace and Residence), Completeness of Geographic Information and Edits/Imputations, Geographic Tabulation Levels, Control Totals, Confidentiality Protection and Suppression, and Related
Public-Use Data Products.
An in-depth data analysis'in aggregate or with the microdata'between the two data products will be the subject of a future technical report. The Census Bureau has begun a pilot project to integrate ACS microdata with LEHD administrative data to develop an enhanced frame of employment status, place of work, and commuting. The Census Bureau will publish quality metrics for person match rates, residence and workplace match rates, and commute distance comparisons.
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Further Evidence from Census 2000 About Earnings by Detailed Occupation for Men and Women: The Role of Race and Hispanic Origin
November 2011
Working Paper Number:
CES-11-37
A 2004 report by the author reviewed data from Census 2000 and concluded "There is a substantial gap in median earnings between men and women that is unexplained, even after controlling for work experience (to the extent it can be represented by age and presence of children), education, and occupation." This paper extends the analysis and concludes that once those characteristics are controlled for, no further explanatory power is attributable to race or Hispanic origin.
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The Creation of the Employment Dynamics Estimates
July 2002
Working Paper Number:
tp-2002-13
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Documenting the Business Register and Related Economic Business Data
March 2016
Working Paper Number:
CES-16-17
The Business Register (BR) is a comprehensive database of business establishments in the United States and provides resources for the U.S. Census Bureau's economic programs for sample selection, research, and survey operations. It is maintained using information from several federal agencies including the Census Bureau, Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Social Security Administration. This paper provides a detailed description of the sources and functions of the BR. An overview of the BR as a linking tool and bridge to other Census Bureau data for additional business characteristics is also given.
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Co-Working Couples and the Similar Jobs of Dual-Earner Households
January 2015
Working Paper Number:
CES-15-23R
Although an increasing number of studies consider married or cohabiting couples as current, former, or potential co-workers, there is surprisingly little evidence on the extent to which couples work at the same workplace. This study provides benchmark estimates on the frequency with which opposite-sex married and cohabiting couples in the United States share the same occupation, industry, work location, and employer using Census 2000 responses linked with administrative records data. This study contains the first representative estimate of the fraction of couples that share an employer, which is in the range of 11% to 13%. These shared employers can account for much of couples' shared industry, occupation, and location of employment. Longitudinal data on the employment and residency indicates that co-working couples much more likely to have chosen the same employer than to have met at work.
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Matching Compustat Data to the Longitudinal Business Database, 1976-2020
September 2025
Working Paper Number:
CES-25-65
This paper details the methodology for creating an updated Compustat-Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) bridge, facilitating linkage between company identifiers in Compustat and firm identifiers in the LBD. In addition to data from Compustat, we incorporate historical data on public companies from various public and private sources, including information on executive names. Our methodology involves a series of stages using fuzzy name and address matching, including EIN, telephone number, and industry code matching. Qualified researchers with approved proposals can access this bridge though the Federal Statistical Research Data Centers. The Compustat-SSL bridge serves as a crucial resource for longitudinal studies on U.S. businesses, corporate governance, and executive compensation.
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Access Methods for United States Microdata
August 2007
Working Paper Number:
CES-07-25
Beyond the traditional methods of tabulations and public-use microdata samples, statistical agencies have developed four key alternatives for providing non-government researchers with access to confidential microdata to improve statistical modeling. The first, licensing, allows qualified researchers access to confidential microdata at their own facilities, provided certain security requirements are met. The second, statistical data enclaves, offer qualified researchers restricted access to confidential economic and demographic data at specific agency-controlled locations. Third, statistical agencies can offer remote access, through a computer interface, to the confidential data under automated or manual controls. Fourth, synthetic data developed from the original data but retaining the correlations in the original data have the potential for allowing a wide range of analyses.
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