Conference highlights new data and provides insight into developing economy
The University of Chicago – University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UC-UTCC) Research Center will host a conference focused on the importance of long-period panel data. In conjunction, new monthly data from the Townsend Thai Data will be released, adding to an already rich data source.
The conference, to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on June 11, will highlight research findings and theory related to panel data. Robert Townsend, the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at MIT, will discuss lessons learned from his ten years of data collection in Thailand. Townsend is one of the world’s leading authorities on developing economies, and his work has demonstrated innovation in the combination of theory and data.
The Townsend Thai Data is one of the most detailed and longest running panel datasets in the developing world. Collected by the Thai Family Research Project, this detailed data source serves to inform researchers and policymakers in an effort to bridge the gap between academic research and policy creation.
Twenty four months of consecutive monthly data from 1998 to 2000 have been released on the Dataverse site and can be access at http://cier.uchicago.edu/data-archive/. These intensive monthly surveys have been conducted since August 1998 in 720 households. The surveys elicit detailed information on household finance and businesses, allowing researchers to study wealth accumulation, enterprise, and formal and informal networks.
The conference will also feature the Research Center’s tools for data acquisition and management. Panuchart Boonyakiat, Director of the UC-UTCC Research Center, will present features and capabilities of an online data visualization tool recently launched by the Center. For a full listing of topics to be discussed, please visit http://uc.utcc.ac.th/ts2010/.
Collection of the Townsend Thai Data is made possible by the generous support of that National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIHCD), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Opinion Research Center (NORC).