As the Research Data Center of IZA, the IDSC contributes two major pillars to the Institute’s own mission of bridging the divide between academic research and policy advice: research data and digital technology.

Empirical data, especially data on the individual level and/or the firm level are vital for the identification of causal relationships between policies and their outcomes. Data provision is not only an important resource for researchers doing primary research, it is equally crucial for establishing scientific quality control by allowing for secondary analysis. Replication studies offer a major contribution to the assessment of the policy relevance of existing findings.

On top of direct data provision, we also provide advanced technologies that allow for secured remote access and the generation of samples based on online data.

In addition to our data services, the IDSC has its own research agenda on digital data and has, for example, developed analytic tools to explore internet search data and facilitate economic trend forecasting.