290

IZA Infrastructure

IZA has a powerful infrastructure at its disposal. It isendowed with modern IT applications and an effective data service center as well as a wide range of services through the IZA library for staff and guestsof the institute.

IZA Report 1998–2001

IZA

IN

FRA

ST

RU

CT

UR

E

291

The improvement of the available database is a centralprecondition for the advancement of labor marketresearch and the evaluation of labor market policies.This is only possible, however, if – through coopera-tion between official data producers and academe –micro data are increasingly opened up and made avai-lable for scientific analysis. Micro data and correspon-ding methods for analysis are necessary prerequisitesfor well-founded labor market research and policyconsulting.

Various factors have led to the rather incomplete avai-lability of micro data in Germany: a lack of coordina-tion between institutions collecting data and scientificusers, legal restrictions of data protection as well asrestrictive information policy of official institutions.Leaving time-consuming and expensive data collectionaside, it is often impossible to make full use of theresulting empirical material. This means missingopportunities for scientific discoveries.IZA has started to point to this unsatisfactory situa-tion at an early stage. In cooperation with other eco-nomists it has developed proposals for improved dataavailability to empirically oriented social scientists andeconomists (cf. R. Hauser/G. G. Wagner/K. F. Zimmermann, Erfolgsbedingungen empirischerWirtschaftsforschung und empirisch gestützter wirt-schafts- und sozialpolitischer Beratung. Ein Memo-randum, Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, 82 (1998),369-379).

Overcoming these restrictions is one of the mostimportant challenges IZA is ready to face through theinstitution of an international data service center.

The aim of this data service center is the promotion ofcooperation between official statistics and academeand the development of methodical solutions for exi-sting problems of access and use of micro data sets.Moreover, the IZA data service center aims at collec-ting, processing and providing national and interna-tional micro data sets and at advising researchers inthe use of data.

Furthermore, IZA plans to communicate informationon and access to national and international micro datasets and – if possible – make them accessible. This isexpected to lead to synergy effects through themedium of micro data. The experience and themethods of different scientists in relation to the use ofthe micro data sets made available in the IZA data ser-vice center are to be made centrally accessible to aca-deme.

IZA Data Service Center for the Use of

National and International Micro Data

The webCatalogue makes the total contents of thelibrary accessible and provides user-friendly researchtools. Moreover, staff and guest researchers may usethe modern intranet system to immediately accessdatabases, electronic journals, and the catalogue ofjournals and discussion paper series available in thelibrary.

In addition, the IZA library offers support with litera-ture research for IZA staff, Fellows, Affiliates, andguest researchers. Publications that are not available inthe IZA library are provided from other libraries atshort notice.With its flexible structure and its continuously expan-ding provision of literature and services, the IZA libra-ry makes a crucial contribution to efficient and well-founded research work. n

292

With its concentration on issues of labor economicsand labor market policy, the IZA library supportsstaff, Research Fellows, Research Affiliates and guestresearchers of the institute in their research work.Beside the extensive use by internal researchers, thelibrary is generally accessible to external users as a refe-rence library. All relevant national and internationalpublications as well as the most important data sour-ces are available for use in the IZA library. The collec-tion currently includes more than 2200 monographs,about 150 scientific journals and about 100 discussionpaper series.

IZA Infrastructure

Library and Information Center