Economic database systems: further reflections on the state of the art 1

Abstract

This paper considers the current and prospective development of economic database systems, thematically complementing a 1980 paper by the author. First created for use with macroeconomic data, often in order to support the construction and use of econometric and other models, these systems have been applied in this way and more broadly since the 1970s. However, during the past decade, microeconomic systems have also begun to be developed, particularly for use with longitudinal data sets. With the advent of the Internet, using next generation systems, the potential now exists for the widespread, cost and use-effective distribution of various types of economic and social data for research and other purposes. This paper examines some of the requirements for the appropriate development of these systems. It stresses the absolute need for improved data documentation and advocates the machine distribution of documented data as a standard procedure. It evaluates proposals by Kendrick and David that economic database systems should be organized according to the Relational Database Model, a computer science concept originally formulated by E.F. Codd. The appendix presents and describes the widely used TSD economic data transfer format, which permits documented inter-system time-series data transfers.