When it comes to studying the employment market, the Federal Employment Agency's Research Data Centre (FDZ) at the Institute for Employment Research has evolved into a leading data provider for the international research community over the last two decades. Every year, more than 1,000 researchers from various disciplines around the world access the FDZ’s services to use IAB research data in their projects.
The FDZ has provided researchers in Germany and abroad with access to confidential microdata from the Federal Employment Agency and the IAB since 2004. Its transparent, standardised rules and technical safeguards ensure that data is protected and the potential for data analysis is maximised.
In addition to comprehensive administrative data products based on social security registrations and administrative process data from the Federal Employment Agency, the FDZ also provides international access to the IAB’s large panel surveys of individuals and companies. This wealth of data is further enhanced by the option to link survey data with administrative data and thus gain access to a unique portfolio of complex data for researching labour markets.
The FDZ offers various ways to access its data products. Which one is most suitable will depend on the research question being asked, the data product and the level of detail required of the information. Scientific use files, for example, are anonymised in such a way that they can be delivered directly to the research institution. Products containing more sensitive data can be processed remotely or analysed during an on-site visit. An ever-growing network of locations for secure, on-site data access has been established in partnership with other national, European and non-European data providers and universities.
We have compiled a list of FDZ projects and publications such as dataset descriptions, methodology reports and numerous research papers based on FDZ data on this page.
Activities
Interview on the occasion of the anniversary
Interview in our Online Magazine IAB-Forum with Dana Müller, Head of the FDZ, and Monika Jungbauer-Gans, Chair of the German Data Forum: “The Research Data Centre provides a good example for other data areas”
Events
IAB Conference „Investigating social inequalities using survey and register data”
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