Using administrative data sources in Labour Market research [pdf 5 ...

Sylvia Dixon 29
and addresses. Data are stored on an isolated and secure data server, so that only
authorised people can view them. Confidentiality standards also require that
research outputs are screened and any information that might permit individuals
or firms to be identified is removed.
Other related research
For a broader view on the potential of administrative data for innovative labour
market research, a number of other recent New Zealand and Australian studies
can be consulted. Dean Hyslop has used longitudinally linked data from the
Inland Revenue Department’s tax database to analyse individual income mobility
(2000b) and to estimate the effects of receiving welfare benefits on individuals’
future incomes (2000a). Moira Wilson has used longitudinally linked data on
working-aged beneficiaries collected by the Department of Social Welfare (and
more recently the Department of Work and Income) to analyse the dynamics of
benefit receipt. Wilson (1999) investigates the duration patterns and rates of
return to income support that are associated with different types of benefit.
Wilson (2000) uses data on successive cohorts of Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB)
beneficiaries to examine the extent to which patterns of DPB receipt were affected
by a series of policy changes that strengthened the incentives for DPB recipients to
undertake part-time work and increased their obligations to search for work.
Wilson’s work on the dynamics of benefit receipt is paralleled in Australia by
a number of studies commissioned recently by the Department of Family and
Community Services (Barrett, 2001; Flatau and Dockery, 2001; Strombeck and
Dockery, 2001). Using data extracted from the Department’s client and benefit
payment records, these studies examine the durations of time that different types
of recipient spend on different types of benefit (unemployment, sole parent
pension) and the factors that are associated with exit from the benefit system.
New Zealand Conference on Database Integration and Linked
Employer-Employee Data
To promote greater understanding of the techniques and potential benefits of
matching administrative and survey data across data sources, a group of New
Zealand government departments have jointly organised a conference on this
theme, which will take place in Wellington on 21–22 March 2002.
The Conference on Database Integration and Linked Employer-Employee Data
features a number of respected American researchers who have pioneered the
development of integrated employer-employee datasets, such as John Abowd and
John Haltiwanger. They will offer insights into their experiences. Other
international speakers will discuss methods for the preparation and linking of
administrative data and the practical lessons they have learned in data integration
projects. Several speakers will present papers on the confidentiality protection