Biographical Data of Social Insurance Agencies in Germany – Improving the Content of Administrative Data

The use of administrative data sources is getting more and more popular in various research topics. The majority of microeconomic evaluation studies in Europe, which is about 80 percent, are based on administrative data sources (Card /Kluve /Weber, 2010) and (Scioch /Oberschachtsiek, 2009). The main reason for using register based data is the multitude of information they provide. On the one hand they contain a high number of observed individuals, on the other hand precise information on characteristics like wages or employment. An advantage compared to survey data is that there is no existence of non-response or panel attrition (Kluve, 2006). Administrative data sources of the german social security system are generated mainly using two procedures: the notification of the social security and the internal processes of the respective agencies which collect the data.