taxation. The range of data is continually extended to meet research needs. Demand in the
field of economic and environmental statistical data has shown a particularly dynamic
development. The demand for integrated datasets based on different statistics and survey
years presents particular challenges. There are various access routes available for users.
Information on the data and services provided is available at
www.forschungsdatenzentrum.de.
Use of the Research Data Centre of the Statistical Offices of the Lander has increased
steadily since 2004, with the number of applications for use multiplying fourfold by 2007
from 31 to 133. On average, each application requires access to six different datasets, so that
more than 2721 datasets have been provided for research purposes to date. Due to the
decentralised infrastructure, most data use takes place at the workplaces for guest researchers
or via controlled remote data access, and is thus particularly labour-intensive for the research
data centre.
The previous work of the Research Data Centre of the Statistical Offices of the Lander has
shown that the official statistical microdata are an important basis for innovative scientific
analyses7 and the users are very satisfied with the new range of services. The Research Data
Centre of the Statistical Offices of the Lander is therefore working very hard to establish its
services on a permanent basis.
3.3 The Research Data Centre (FDZ-BA) of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) at the Institute
for Employment Research (IAB)
The FDZ-BA8 was founded in December 2003, as there had been no systematic access to
social data up until this point. Following a positive evaluation by the German Council for
Social and Economic Data in April 2006, the FDZ-BA was permanently established as an
independent research data centre of the BA at the IAB9. An evaluation by the German Council
of Science and Humanities in 2007 confirmed that the FDZ-BA was an internationally unique
institution: “The Research Data Centre (focusing on methods and data access) is an
internationally visible, indispensable service institution, unique in Europe and a prime
example to other institutions, possessing large datasets of scientific importance.” (Report of
the German Council of Science and Humanities for the IAB 2007, p.55)
The FDZ-BA prepares individual datasets developed in the sphere of social security and in
employment research and makes them available for research purposes - primarily for external
7 Selective data sets are discussed in detail by Kaiser/Wagner (2007), Wirth/Müller (2006) and Zühlke/Christians (2006).
8 More information on the FDZ is available in Kohlmann (2005), Bender et al. (2008a).
9 The FDZ has basic financing for a Head (exempt from collectively agreed terms), five positions for (senior) researchers, and three for
non-academic staff and student assistants (40 hours per week).