Library:Finding and Using Data for your Research/Economic
Economic
Canadian
Abacus
- Research data sets from around the world, collected by the library.
- Data sets of interest include the Labour Force Survey, IMF microdata, Canadian Business Patterns, Trade Data excel files, Small Area trade files.
Bank of Canada
- Data provided by the Bank of Canada includes Exchange rates, interest rates, price indexes, and other indicators.
- Data is generally available for the past 10 years, with more historical data available for certain measures.
BC Stats
- Provides free access to current reports and statistics from British Columbia's central statistical agency: Census of Canada and aboriginal population tables, regional statistics and maps, exports and imports, business, industry and environmental statistics, and lots more British Columbia social and economic data, as well as articles in certain journals.
- The Statistics by Subject tab allows users to find data sources on a variety of topics. Some topics provide machine-readable tabular data, while others will only provide reports with human-readable tables accompanied by analysis. Users can also try looking for BC data through the appropriate ministry, or through BC's open data portal, DataBC.
by tpsdave from Pixabay, CC0
Cansim
- Database from Statistics Canada containing more than 52 million numeric time series covering a wide variety of social and economic indicators.
DataBC
- Open data portal from the BC government. Provides access to datasets across sectors, including data about the Economy, Education, Finance, Health, Justice, Natural Resources, Service, Social Services, and Transportation.
- Search the catalogue with keywords, and filter your results by filetype as well as by the sector or Ministry.
Trade Data Online
- Generate customized reports on Canada and U.S. trade in goods with over 200 countries. The database allows users to generate reports down to the province and territory level. No information on "Trade in services" is available on this database.
TSX-CFMRC
- Use for researching historical stock prices and other corporate financial data for Toronto Stock Exchange-listed companies.
- Data includes: Opening price, Opening Bid, Opening Ask, Closing Price, Closing Bid, Closing Ask, High, Low, Return, Transactions, Volume, Outstanding Shares, Quote Changes, and TSE/TSX Index Data.
- Data can be graphed or saved as a .lst file that can be opened in Excel.
| Many of the international sources include Canadian data. |
International
by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay, CC0
Abacus
- Research data sets from around the world, collected by the library.
- Data sets of interest include: IMF data, International Trade Merchandise, Cross National Time Series, ICPSR (primarily historical) (ask about this - how is it different from searching ICPSR itself. Same with IMF.
China Data Online
- Monthly and yearly reports on China's macroeconomic development, statistical databases on China's population and economy at the county and city level, and financial indicators of industries.
- Managed by the University of Michigan China Data Center. Information is not provided about the data sources or instruments used to collect the data.
Datastream
- International economic, company and financial data. Data are available in both text and graphical formats. Data can be selected for analysis, display and print. Updated daily.
- Only available on certain library workstations. See the link for more information.
Eurostat
- A coordinated statistical agency for all countries in the Eurozone. Collects economic, environmental and population data.
- Data can be accessed through the online Statistics Database from the home page.
- Methodology can be found in the Metadata menu on the left hand side in this section. Specific methodological information for individual datasets can be accessed along with the datasets themselves.
IMF Data
- Annual, monthly, and quarterly financial and economic time series cover more than 200 countries and 40 regional and special groups of countries.
- Use for the following topics: Balance of payments, Banking and Financial systems, Employment, Exchange rates, Fund position, Finance, Government finance, Interest rates, International liquidity and Banking, National accounts, Population, Prices, Production, and Trade.
- Select predefined data reports by Country, Topic and Data Source, or build your own queries across or within datasets.
- Export results or manipulate and visualize the data with the online tool provided.
National Sample Survey of India (CD-ROM)
- Statistics collected continuously by India's National Sample Survey Office on social, economic, demographic, industrial and agricultural topics.
- Data sets held by the library are current to 2009. The datasets have been individually catalogued online, with good information about what the data sets contain and how the data was collected, but most of the data sets themselves cannot be accessed this way.
OECDstat via OECD iLibrary
- Select the Statistics tab from the OECD iLibrary site, then select OECD.Stat under the Databases column. One the next page, select the Data icon, which will lead you to the datasets.
- OECD iLibrary provides online access to all books, journals, statistical series and databases originating from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since 1998. UBC has access to the International Energy Agency's IEA Databases and to OECD.Stat.
- OECD publications cover economic and social issues including trade, education, labour, social policy, health, finance, development, energy, environment, and science and innovation.
Penn World Tables
- The PWT are a prepared data set (based on information from the International Comparison Program run by the World Bank, combined with National Accounts data) that can be downloaded in its entirety and is useful for comparing long-term cross-country growth. A major focus of this data set is calculating real GDP using purchasing power parities to correct for differences in prices across countries. The dataset covers 189 countries, and the data in many cases ranges from 1950 to 2010.
Proquest Statistical Insight
- An important resource for locating government statistics - US government statistical publications, as well as those of international intergovernmental organizations such as the UN, European Union, OECD, IMF, Asian Development Bank, etc. Includes online tables for US federal agencies and for the World Bank, and links to government statistical resources on the Web.
SimplyMap
- Internet-based mapping application that enables users to develop interactive thematic maps and reports using demographic, business, and marketing data.
Thomson One
- Company and industry analysis from over 500 investment analysis firms. Coverage is global.
- Use Internet Explorer browser and ensure pop-ups are enabled.
Trade Analyser
- Detailed trade data from two sources: World Trade (1988-2005, annual data) continues Statistics Canada's World Trade Database CD-ROM. Canadian Imports and Canadian Exports (1988-present, monthly and annual data) continues Statistics Canada's TIERS (Trade Information Enquiry Retrieval System) CD-ROM.
UN Comtrade
- The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) provides detailed trade statistics reported to the UN Statistics Division from 170 countries: imports, exports, trading partners, and commodities from 1962-present.
- Explanatory notes and information about the data sources are found under the Metadata & References tab.
UNdata
- Covers all countries and areas, drawing selectively on statistics from throughout the UN system to bring them together in a common platform using global statistical standards. Selective summary tables cover agriculture, population, industry, national accounts, energy, health, human development, trade, refugees, education, employment, and information and communication technology.
- Tables are taken from databases and sources published in the extended United Nations system, including the ILO'S Yearbook of Labour Statistics and Key Indicators of the Labour Market; the World Bank's World Development Indicators; the IMF's International Financial Statistics; the WHO's World Health Statistics Annual; various UNICEF and UNESCO publications; the Demographic Yearbook, Energy Statistics Yearbook, National Accounts Statistics: Main Aggregates and Detailed Tables, and many more.
- Use keywords to search for datasets in the main search box. To browse datasets, select the Databases tab. Each database provides a list of the datasets it contains, which can be viewed individually. When viewing datasets, they can be manipulated within the portal (e.g., to examine a single country) or the dataset can be downloaded to in order to work with it in your preferred software.
- UNdata is compiled from a variety of sources including national statistics agencies, so the survey instrument may be different for each country's data. Source information for each dataset can be found near the bottom of the page when viewing the dataset.
U.S. Federal Reserve
- The U.S Federal Reserve provides downloadable data about a variety of economic indicators.
USA.gov Data and Statistics
- Data and statistics organized by topic, including Government, Business and Economic, Family and Community, Environment, and more.
World Advertising Research Centre (WARC)
- Advertising expenditure by medium in 80 markets, plus forecasts and media costs for key countries.
World Bank Data
- Statistical data for over 550 development indicators and time series data from 1960 for over 200 countries and 18 country groups in World Development Indicators, Global Development Finance, Africa Development Indicators, and other databases. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators.
- Users can browse by country, topic, indicator. Datasets can be downloaded or else viewed and manipulated in the online visualization and analysis tool at databank.worldbank.org
WRDS (Wharton Research Data Services)
- Data from CRSP and COMPUSTAT, covering over 30,000 companies.
- Includes security prices and trading volume, income and balance sheet items, and analyst projections for earnings and sales. WRDS also contains stock market indices, bond prices and interest rates, mutual fund and stock ownership information, options data, and a wide array of macroeconomic time series.
- International data, marketing and industry reports, and web usage data are also available on WRDS.
Historical
Il Mappamundo by UBC Library Communications from Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Canada Year Book Historical Collection
- Covers the first century of Canada's history, from 1867 to 1967, with historical text, tables, charts and maps
- The 1867 to 1886 editions were written only in English; French editions are included 1887-1967.
- Text and tables cover population, industry and the economy, trade, immigration, labour, transportation, agriculture, communications, and government.
Proquest U.S. Serial Set Digital Collection (Congressional Publications)
- The U.S. Serial Set, a collection of U.S. Government publications compiled under the directive of Congress, captures every aspect of American life from the early 19th century onward: farming, westward expansion, scientific exploration, politics, international relations, business, and manufacturing. It includes Congressional reports and documents as well as executive agency and departmental reports ordered to be printed by Congress.
Sessional Papers of Canada
also available in Microform
- Sessional Papers are reports tabled in the House of Commons and published as a set of volumes for each parliamentary session. These and other topics are represented by text and statistical tables such as: annual reports of departments, estimates and public accounts, early census reports, and reports of royal commissions.
- Before the Dominion Bureau of Statistics was established in 1918, the annual reports of government departments such as Agriculture, Indian Affairs, and Railways and Canals were the main source of statistics on Canadian economic and social activity. The public accounts and annual reports of departments are particularly good sources for detailed historical statistics.
David Lam Exterior by UBC Library Communications from Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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