Introduction to This Page
This web page serves as an Internet appendix to Paul Hensel's "Review of Available Data Sets" chapter in the Scientific Study of International Processes (SSIP) section's volume in the ISA Compendium Project, which has been updated from the chapter in the original ISA-wide Compendium.
This page provides links to download the data sets that have been used most frequently in recent research by SSIP scholars, categorized by the typical usage for each data set. Data sets within each category are organized alphabetically.
The "Source" entry for each data set indicates the best place to obtain it. Where possible, this is the official site where the data set is maintained, which should always have the most up-to-date version. Also note that some data sets that are listed as being available by purchase only can be purchased by an entire institution through a site license; interested users may want to check with their school's library to see whether these resources are already available to them before paying the fee to access the data individually.
The "Typical Uses" entry for each data set indicates the most common uses for the data in recent years. Note that some data sets are very broad, and can be used for multiple purposes. Where relevant, data sets are listed under several different categories, as with data sets that are commonly used for studying both armed conflict and conflict management.
Please email me with any updates or corrections to the information on this page. I have made every effort to make sure that this information is correct and complete at the time of publication, but there will inevitably be changes as data sets are moved to new hosts or new URLs.
Lists of States / Country Codes
Most of these data sets use one of the following lists of country codes to identify observations.
COW interstate system list
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
Gleditsch/Ward state list
ISO 3166-1 country codes (as used by the UN and many international agencies)
Conversions between these formats:
- Andy Beger has created several STATA do-files to convert ISO codes to COW codes.
- Rafal Raciborski has created a STATA module called KOUNTRY to convert between COW, IMF, and UN codes as well as various spellings of country names.
Interstate Conflict Data
Armed Conflict data (from Uppsala Conflict Data Program and PRIO)
- Source: http://www.prio.no/cwp/ArmedConflict/
- Typical uses: Conflict onset, deaths
COW Interstate War data
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses: War occurrence, severity, outcomes
COW Militarized Interstate Dispute (MID) data
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses: Dispute occurrence, severity, outcomes
COW MID Location data
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses: specific location of conflicts
DYMID (Maoz' dyadic MID data)
- Source: http://psfaculty.ucdavis.edu/zmaoz/dyadmid.html
- Typical uses:
Fortna's "Duration of Peace after Interstate Wars" data
- Source: http://www.columbia.edu/~vpf4/research.htm
- Typical uses: details of war termination and recurrence
International Crisis Behavior (ICB) Crisis data
- Source: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/icb/
- Typical uses: Crisis occurrence, severity, outcomes
International Military Intervention (IMI) data - including earlier Pearson/Baumann data as well as more recent Kisangani/Pickering data
- Source: http://www.k-state.edu/polsci/intervention/
- Typical uses: military interventions across borders
Lacina/Gleditsch Battle Deaths data
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Armed-Conflict/Battle-Deaths/
- Typical uses: Battle deaths in COW war data, Fearon/Laitin war data, and UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict data
Military Intervention by Powerful States (MIPS) data
- Source: http://tsulli.myweb.uga.edu/data.html
- Typical uses: military interventions by the US, UK, France, USSR/Russia, and China
UCDP One-Sided Violence data (introduced in Eck/Hultman 2007 JPR article)
- Source: http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/ucdp_one-sided_violence_dataset/
- Typical uses: violence against civilians (by states or non-state groups)
Valentino/Huth/Croco "Covenants without the Sword" data
- Source: http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/phuth/faces/study/StudyPage.xhtml?globalId=hdl:1902.1/10276&tab=files&studyListingIndex=0_f67cd78de23c726b06dcc48cf53a
- Typical uses: civilian fatalities during war
Event Data
Conflict and Mediation Event Observations (CAMEO)
- Source: http://web.ku.edu/~keds/data.dir/cameo.html
- Typical uses: conflict and cooperation events
Conflict and Peace Databank (COPDAB)
- Source: http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/07767
- Typical uses: conflict and cooperation events
Integrated Data for Events Analysis (IDEA)
- Source: http://vranet.com/IDEA/ -- apparently a commercial service
- Typical uses: conflict and cooperation events
Kansas Events Data System (KEDS)
- Source: http://web.ku.edu/~keds/data.html
- Typical uses: conflict and cooperation events
King/Lowe "10 Million International Dyadic Events" data
- Source: http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/king/faces/study/StudyPage.xhtml?studyId=505
- Typical uses: conflict and cooperation events
Protocol for the Analysis of Nonviolent Direct Action (PANDA)
- Source: This data set does not appear to be available any more, although its coding schemes live on in other work.
- Typical uses: conflict and cooperation events
World Events Interaction Survey (WEIS)
- Source: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/05211
- Typical uses: conflict and cooperation events
World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators
- Source: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07761 (for information about a more recent update see http://mershoncenter.osu.edu/expertise/institutions/worldhandbook.htm)
- Typical uses: conflict and cooperation events
Interstate Rivalry
Hewitt's Crisis Density Rivalry data
- Source: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/icb/data/
- Typical uses: identifying rivalries based on ICB crisis data
Klein/Goertz/Diehl Rivalry data
- Source: http://www.u.arizona.edu/~ggoertz/rivalry/
- Typical uses: identifying rivalries based on MID data
Strategic Rivalry data (from William Thompson)
- Source: [Listed in several publications; latest version available by emailing author]
- Typical uses: identifying rivalries based on leaders' perceptions
Contentious Issues
COW Territorial Change data
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses: Territorial change details (including violence)
Huth/Allee Territorial Dispute data
- Source: http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/phuth/faces/study/StudyPage.xhtml?studyId=18738
- Typical uses: Armed conflict over territorial disputes
ICOW Territorial Claim, River Claim, and Maritime Claim data
- Source: http://www.icow.org
- Typical uses: Armed conflict over territorial, river, and maritime issues
Intrastate, Civil, Ethnic, and Non-State Conflict Data
Armed Conflict data (from Uppsala Conflict Data Program and PRIO)
- Source: http://www.prio.no/cwp/ArmedConflict/
- Typical uses: Conflict onset, deaths
Armed Conflict Location and Events Data (ACLED)
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Armed-Conflict/Armed-Conflict-Location-and-Event-Data/
- Typical uses: specific location of conflicts
Banks' Cross-National Time Series Archive data
- Source: http://www.databanksinternational.com/ [available by purchase only]
- Typical uses: Assassinations, strikes, riots, revolutions, demonstrations, guerrilla warfare
Correlates of Insurgency data (from Lyall and Wilson)
- Source: http://pantheon.yale.edu/~jml27/YaleWebsite/Research.html
- Typical uses: Insurgency cases and outcomes
COW Extrastate War data (formerly Extrasystemic War data)
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses: War occurrence, severity, outcomes
COW Intrastate War data (formerly Civil War data)
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses: War occurrence, severity, outcomes
Doyle/Sambanis "International Peacebuilding" data (from 2000 APSR article)
- Source: http://go.worldbank.org/KX4VDKU7F0 OR http://politics.as.nyu.edu/object/cohenlinks.html
- Typical uses: Civil war details, peace operations
Fearon/Laitin Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War data
- Source: http://www.stanford.edu/group/ethnic/
- Typical uses: War occurrence, severity, outcomes
Fortna's "Peacekeeping in Civil Wars" data
- Source: http://www.columbia.edu/~vpf4/research.htm
- Typical uses: civil war ceasefires, peacekeeping, and recurrence
Lacina/Gleditsch Battle Deaths data
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Armed-Conflict/Battle-Deaths/
- Typical uses: Battle deaths in COW war data, Fearon/Laitin war data, and UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict data
Minorities at Risk data
- Source: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/
- Typical uses: Rebellion/violence, repression, discrimination
Regan's Interventions in Civil Wars (ICW) data
- Source: http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~pregan/replicationdata.html
- Typical uses: Foreign military, economic, diplomatic intervention into civil wars
State Failure Project / Political Instability Task Force data
- Source: http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/pitf/
- Typical uses: Genocide/politicide, discrimination
Third Party Interventions in Intrastate Disputes (TPI-Intrastate Disputes) data (from Mullenbach and Dixon)
- Source: http://faculty.uca.edu/markm/tpi_homepage.htm
- Typical uses: Interventions into intrastate disputes (including intermediary interventions, partisan or military interventions, peacekeeping, and electoral missions)
UCDP Conflict Termination data
- Source: http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/ucdp_conflict_termination_dataset/
- Typical uses: date and type of conflict termination
UCDP Managing Intrastate Low-Intensity Conflict (MILC) data
- Source: http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/managing_intrastate_low-intensity_conflict_dataset/
- Typical uses: third party conflict management efforts
UCDP Non-State Conflict data
- Source: http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/ucdp_non-state_conflict_dataset_/
- Typical uses: conflicts that do not involve states as parties on either side
UCDP One-Sided Violence data (introduced in Eck/Hultman 2007 JPR article)
- Source: http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/ucdp_one-sided_violence_dataset/
- Typical uses: violence against civilians (by states or non-state groups)
UCDP Peace Agreement data
- Source: http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/ucdp_peace_agreement_dataset/
- Typical uses: content of peace agreements
World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators
- Source: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07761 (for information about a more recent update see http://mershoncenter.osu.edu/expertise/institutions/worldhandbook.htm
- Typical uses:
Human Rights and Repression
CIRI (Cingranelli/Richards) Human Rights data
- Source: http://ciri.binghamton.edu/
- Typical uses: Human rights violations
Political Terror Scale
- Source: http://www.politicalterrorscale.org/
- Typical uses: Human rights violations, repression
Terrorism
Global Terrorism Database (from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism or START)
- Source: http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/gtd/
- Typical uses: Date and type of attack and target, casualties, perpetrator type
Institute for Counterterrorism (ICT) International Terrorism Database
- Source: [This doesn't currently appear to be publicly available.]
- Typical uses:
International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events (ITERATE)
- Source: http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/nds/faces/StudyListingPage.xhtml?mode=1&collectionId=712 [Note that the most recent versions of this data set are only available commercially -- see http://vinyardsoftware.com/.]
- Typical uses:
Rand Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents (incorporating the material previously in the RAND Terrorism Chronology and the RAND-MIPT Terrorism Incident Database)
- Source: http://www.rand.org/nsrd/projects/terrorism-incidents.html
- Typical uses:
Terrorism, Insurgencies, and Guerrillas in Education and Research (TIGER) Suicide Attacks Worldwide data
- Source: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tiger/terrorism_data/suicide_attacks_worldwide/
- Typical uses: Date and type of attack and target, casualties, number and affiliation of attackers
Terrorism, Insurgencies, and Guerrillas in Education and Research (TIGER) Terrorist Groups Worldwide data
- Source: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tiger/terrorism_data/terrorist_groups_worldwide/
- Typical uses: Terrorist group affiliations, ideologies, and organizational structure
U.S. State Department Country Reports on Terrorism (formerly Patterns of Global Terrorism)
- Source: http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/
- Typical uses:
Peaceful Conflict Management Data
Bercovitch's International Conflict Management data set
- Source: Bercovitch and Fretter (2004), A Regional Guide to Conflict and Its Management, 1945-2003.
- Typical uses:
Huth/Allee Territorial Dispute data
- Source: http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/phuth/faces/study/StudyPage.xhtml?studyId=18738
- Typical uses: Management of territorial disputes
ICB Crisis data
- Source: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/icb/
- Typical uses: Crisis management
ICOW Territorial Claim, River Claim, and Maritime Claim data
- Source: http://www.icow.org
- Typical uses: Management of territorial, river, and maritime issues
Economic Data
Bank for International Settlements' International Financial Statistics
- Source: http://www.bis.org/statistics/index.htm
- Typical uses: banking, debt, finance, foreign exchange, securities
Belgian Export Credit Agency (ONDD) Credit Insurance data
- Source: http://www.ducroire.be/WebDucDel/Website.nsf/weben/Country+risks?OpenDocument
- Typical uses: export credit insurance and investment insurance rates (used as a measure of risk)
Chinn/Ito Capital Account Openness (KAOPEN) data
- Source: http://web.pdx.edu/~ito/Chinn-Ito_website.htm
- Typical uses: capital account openness
Cukierman et al. Central Bank data (from Cukierman/Webb/Neyapti 1992 WBER and Cukierman/Webb 1995 WBER articles)
- Source: http://www.tau.ac.il/~alexcuk/link.html
- Typical uses: Central bank independence, bank governor turnover
Deininger/Squire "Measuring Income Inequality" data (from 1996 WBER article)
- Source: http://go.worldbank.org/UVPO9KSJJ0
- Typical uses: Economic inequality
Fraser Institute's "Economic Freedom in the World" data
- Source: http://www.freetheworld.com/
- Typical uses: economic freedom
Gleditsch's Expanded GDP data
- Source: http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~ksg/exptradegdp.html
- Typical uses:
IMF Balance of Payments data
- Source: http://www.imfstatistics.org/BOP/about.asp [available by purchase only]
- Typical uses:
IMF Government Finance Statistics
- Source: http://www.imf.org/external/data.htm (available by purchase only)
- Typical uses: revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities
IMF International Financial Statistics
- Source: http://www.imfstatistics.org/imf/about.asp [available by purchase only]
- Typical uses: Inflation, financial depth, reserves, openness, fiscal balance
Klein/Shambaugh Exchange Rate Regimes data
- Source: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~jshambau/
- Typical uses: exchange rates
KOF Index of Globalization (introduced in Dreher's 2006 Applied Economics article)
- Source: http://globalization.kof.ethz.ch/
- Typical uses: Globalization, economic flows and restrictions, information flows, personal contacts, cultural proximity
Maddison's Historical Statistics database
- Source: http://www.ggdc.net/MADDISON/oriindex.htm
- Typical uses: data on population, GDP, and GDP/capita as far back as 1 AD
Penn World Tables
- Source: http://pwt.econ.upenn.edu
- Typical uses: GDP, income, growth, openness, exchange rates
SIPRI Arms Transfers database
- Source: http://www.sipri.org/databases/armstransfers
- Typical uses: arms transfers
UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics
- Source: http://stats.unctad.org/handbook
- Typical uses:
University of Texas Inequality Project (UTIP) data
- Source: http://utip.gov.utexas.edu/data.html
- Typical uses: household inequality
World Bank Global Development Finance data (formerly World Debt Tables)
- Source: http://go.worldbank.org/9GEOFVEAS1
- Typical uses:
World Bank World Development Indicators
- Source: http://www.worldbank.org/data [available by purchase only]
- Typical uses: Income, trade, growth, inflation, GDP, export dependence, export penetration, oil exports, exchange rates, government spending, remittances
Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index
- Source: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi
- Typical uses: Perceived corruption
UNCTAD Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) and Double Taxation Treaties (DTT) data
- Source: http://www.unctad.org/templates/WebFlyer.asp?intItemID=3150&lang=1
- Typical uses: bilateral investment treaties
Trade, Investment, and Aid
COW Trade data
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses:
Feenstra/Lipsey NBER-UN World Import and Export Data
- Source: http://cid.econ.ucdavis.edu/wixd.html
- Typical uses: world trade flows by SITC category
Gleditsch's Trade data
- Source: http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~ksg/exptradegdp.html
- Typical uses:
IMF Annual Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions data (formerly Annual Report on Exchange Restrictions)
- Source: http://www.imf.org/external/ns/cs.aspx?id=145 [available by purchase only]
- Typical uses: Trade barriers, exchange rate regimes
IMF Direction of Trade data
- Source: http://www.imfstatistics.org/DOT/about.asp [available by purchase only]
- Typical uses: Trade
Kee/Nicita/Olarreaga Overall Trade Restrictiveness Indices and Import Demand Elasticities data
- Source: http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:22574446~pagePK:64214825~piPK:64214943~theSitePK:469382,00.html
- Typical uses: Trade restrictiveness, import demand elasticity
OECD International Development Statistics
- Source: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/50/17/5037721.htm
- Typical uses: aid and other resource flows
OECD International Investment statistics
- Source: http://www.oecd.org/statisticsdata/0,3381,en_2649_34863_1_119656_1_1_1,00.html
- Typical uses: FDI flows, FDI regulatory restrictions
UNCTAD FDI data
- Source: http://stats.unctad.org/fdi
- Typical uses: Foreign direct investment
UNCTAD Trade Analysis and Information (TRAINS) data
- Source: http://www.unctad.org/Trains
- Typical uses: Trade barriers
Economic Sanctions
Hufbauer et al. Sanctions data
- Source: http://www.iie.com/research/topics/sanctions/sanctions-timeline.cfm, as well as 2008 book Economic Sanctions Reconsidered
- Typical uses:
Marinov's Sanctions data
- Source: http://www.nikolaymarinov.com/?p=126
- Typical uses: Economic sanctions
Threat and Imposition of Sanctions (TIES) data set
- Source: http://www.unc.edu/~bapat/TIES.htm
- Typical uses: Economic sanctions
Geographic Data
Contiguity and Distance
CEPII Distance Dataset
- Source: http://www.cepii.fr/anglaisgraph/bdd/gravity.htm
- Typical uses: distance, area, landlocked status, language(s) spoken, colonial linkage
COW Contiguity data
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses: Contiguity (by land or water, and either interstate or colonial)
Furlong/Gleditsch Length of International Boundaries data
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Geographical-and-Resource/Length-of-International-Boundaries/
- Typical uses: Length of interstate borders
Gleditsch's Minimum Distance and Distance between Capital Cities data
- Source: http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~ksg/mindist.html (minimum distance), http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~ksg/data-5.html (distance between capitals)
- Typical uses: Distance between states
Environmental and Resource Data
Collier/Hoeffler "Greed and Grievance" data
- Source: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ball0144/research.htm
- Typical uses:
DIADATA Diamond data
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Geographical-and-Resource/Diamond-Resources/
- Typical uses: Known diamond deposits
DRUGDATA Drug Cultivation data
- Source: http://www.svt.ntnu.no/iso/Paivi.Lujala/home/DRUGDATA.htm
- Typical uses: Coca bush, opium poppy, and cannabis cultivation
EM-DAT Emergency Events Database
- Source: http://www.emdat.be/index.html
- Typical uses: Occurrence of natural disasters, scope of disaster (number of people affected, deaths, economic costs)
Fearon/Laitin Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War data
- Source: http://www.stanford.edu/group/ethnic/
- Typical uses: Terrain, roads, sanctuaries
GEMDATA Gemstone data
- Source: http://www.svt.ntnu.no/iso/Paivi.Lujala/home/GEMDATA.htm
- Typical uses: Gemstone deposits
Humphreys' Natural Resources data
- Source: http://www.columbia.edu/~mh2245/papers1/
- Typical uses: Oil production and reserves, diamong production
ICOW River Claim data
- Source: http://www.icow.org
- Typical uses: Occurrence of disagreements over international rivers, salience of claimed river, conflictual and cooperative management of river claims
PETRODATA Petroleum data
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Geographical-and-Resource/Petroleum-Dataset/
- Typical uses: Known onshore and offshore oil and gas deposits
PRIO Shared River Basin data (from Toset, Gleditsch, and Hegre)
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Geographical-and-Resource/Shared-River-Basin-Database/
- Typical uses: Upstream/downstream relationship, portion of river basin in upstream state, length of river boundaries
PRIO Shared Rivers data (from Toset, Gleditsch, and Hegre)
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Geographical-and-Resource/Shared-Rivers/
- Typical uses: Number, type, and length of border rivers
Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database (TFDD)
- Source: http://www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu/database/
- Typical uses: List of international rivers by country or continent, river treaties, cooperative and conflictual events over water
UNFAO State of the World's Forests data
- Source: http://www.fao.org/forestry/46203/en/
- Typical uses:
UNFAO Terrastat data
- Source: http://www.fao.org/AG/agl/agll/terrastat/
- Typical uses:
U.S. Geological Survey's Centennial Earthquake Catalog
- Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/data/centennial.php
- Typical uses:
World Resource Institute's World Resources data
- Source: http://archive.wri.org/pubs/datasets.cfm?SortBy=1
- Typical uses:
Political Data
ACLP Democracy and Development data (Alvarez/Cheibub/Limongi/Przeworski; from 2000 book Democracy and Development)
- Source: http://politics.as.nyu.edu/object/przeworskilinks.html OR http://www.ssc.upenn.edu/~cheibub/data/Default.htm
- Typical uses: Democracy, socioeconomic development
Archigos (from Geomans/Gleditsch/Chiozza)
- Source: http://mail.rochester.edu/~hgoemans/data.htm
- Typical uses: Political leaders
Cheibub/Gandhi/Vreeland "Democracy and Dictatorship Revisited" data
- Source: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/cheibub/www/DD_page.html
- Typical uses: classification of democracies (presidential, semi-presidential, parliamentary) and dictatorships (military, civilian, royal)
Comparative Political Data Sets (from Armingeon et al. at the University of Berne)
- Source: http://www.ipw.unibe.ch/content/team/klaus_armingeon/comparative_political_data_sets/index_ger.html
- Typical uses: political, institutional, demographic, and socioeconomic data
Data on International Election Monitoring (DIEM)
- Source: http://www.duke.edu/web/diem/data.html
- Typical uses: Activities of election monitors, quality of national-level presidential and legislative elections
Democratic Electoral Systems around the World (from Golder's 2003 CPS article)
- Source: http://homepages.nyu.edu/~mrg217/elections.html
- Typical uses: Electoral system details
Freedom House data (Freedom in the World, Freedom of the Press)
- Source: http://www.freedomhouse.org/
- Typical uses: Democracy, civil liberties, press freedom
Geddes' "Authoritarian Breakdown" data
- Source: http://www.uvm.edu/~cbeer/geddes/Geddes.html [see especially Appendix] or listed in several publications
- Typical uses: Type of authoritarian regime, years in power
Hadenius/Teorell Authoritarian Regimes data
- Source: http://www.svet.lu.se/Dynamic/personal_page/Personal_homepage.lasso?-token.kod=JTE
- Typical uses: type of authoritarian regime
Institutions and Elections Project (IAEP, collected by Regan and Clark)
- Source: http://www2.binghamton.edu/political-science/institutions-and-elections-project.html
- Typical uses: Political institutions, national elections
International Country Risk Guide (ICRG), from Political Risk Services (PRS)
- Source: http://www.prsgroup.com/ICRG.aspx [full data set available by purchase only]
- Typical uses: Political risk, strength and impartiality of legal system, respect for law and order
International IDEA Voter Turnout data
- Source: http://www.idea.int/vt/
- Typical uses: voter turnout
Johnson/Wallack Database of Electoral Systems and the Personal Vote (updating and extending Gaviria et al.'s Database of Particularism)
- Source: http://polisci2.ucsd.edu/jwjohnson/espv.htm
- Typical uses: electoral systems
La Porta et al. "Quality of Government" and related data
- Source: http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/faculty/rafael.laporta/publications.html
- Typical uses: legal and political characteristics
Logic of Political Survival data (by Bueno de Mesquita/Smith/Siverson/Morrow, from 2000 book)
- Source: http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/politics/data/bdm2s2/Logic.htm
- Typical uses: Details of leader and regime, including size of selectorate and winning coalition
Multidimensional Intitutional Representation of Political Systems (MIRPS) - Scalar Index of Polities (SIP) data
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Governance/MIRPSSIP/
- Typical uses: political systems
Peceny/Beer/Sanchez-Terry "Dictatorial Peace" data (from 2002 APSR article)
- Source: http://www.uvm.edu/~cbeer/research.html
- Typical uses: Type of authoritarian regime
Persson/Tabellini data (from Electoral Rules and Corruption, Economic Effects of Constitutions, and related projects)
- Source: http://didattica.unibocconi.eu/myigier/index.php?IdUte=48805&idr=4243&lingua=eng&comando=Apri
- Typical uses: political, social, and economic characteristics and institutions
Political Constraint Index/POLCON (introduced in Henisz' 2000 Economics & Politics article)
- Source: http://www-management.wharton.upenn.edu/henisz/POLCON/ContactInfo.html
- Typical uses: Political constraints, veto players
Polity IV (and earlier Polity data sets)
- Source: http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm
- Typical uses: Democracy/autocracy, interregnum/anarchy, specific democratic constraints
Polyarchy data (from Tatu Vanhanen)
- Source: http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Governance/Vanhanens-index-of-democracy//
- Typical uses: Democracy
Weeks' Autocratic Audience Costs data
- Source: http://falcon.arts.cornell.edu/jlw338/index_files/research.htm
- Typical uses: type of authoritarian regime
Woldendorp/Keman/Budge Party Government in 48 Democracies data (from 2000 book)
- Source: available by emailing author?
- Typical uses: partisan ideology of government
World Bank Database of Political Institutions (introduced in Beck et al. 2001 WBER article; merged with Keefer checks & balances data)
- Source: http://go.worldbank.org/2EAGGLRZ40
- Typical uses: Political polarization, government ideology, electoral competitiveness, electoral details
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators
- Source: http://www.govindicators.org/
- Typical uses: Rule of law
Power and Capability Data
See also the measures of economic capability discussed above. Many studies measure power/capabilities by GNP or GDP, which is highly correlated with the CINC score, although it is generally not available for as long a time span.
Arbetman/Kugler Relative Political Capacity data
- Source: available from the authors
- Typical uses: state capacity
COW National Material Capabilities data
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses: Composite index of national capability (CINC), military personnel, military expenditures, iron/steel production, energy consumption, total population, urban population
Social and Demographic Data
Many of the economic data sets discussed above are also used for sociodemographic data, although the following sources generally focus more on social rather than economic factors in development:
OECD International Migration databases
- Source: http://www.oecd.org/document/49/0,3746,en_2825_494574_44268529_1_1_1_1,00.html
- Typical uses: migration flows and stocks, with demographic and labor force statistics
UN World Urbanization Prospects (formerly World Urbanization Report)
- Source: http://esa.un.org/unup/index.asp
- Typical uses: Urbanization
WHO World Health Report
- Source: http://www.who.int/whr/en/
- Typical uses: Death/disability rates, health spending, socioeconomic development, education
World Bank Migration and Remittances data
- Source: http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTDECPROSPECTS/0,,contentMDK:22759429~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:476883,00.html#Migration
- Typical uses: migration, remittances
Minorities/Diversity/Heterogeneity
CIA World Factbook
- Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
- Typical uses: Ethnic, religious, linguistic diversity
COW Cultural data
- Source: Not currently available; will eventually be released at http://www.correlatesofwar.org
- Typical uses: Ethnic, religious, linguistic diversity
Ethnic Power Relations (EPR) data, including geo-coded version GeoEPR
- Source: http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/epr
- Typical uses: Ethnic groups' access to state power
Fearon/Laitin Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War data (see description in 2003 Journal of Economic Growth article)
- Source: http://www.stanford.edu/group/ethnic/
- Typical uses: Ethnic diversity
Geo-Referencing of Ethnic Groups (GREG), based on geo-coding of Atlas Narodov Mira
- Source: http://www.icr.ethz.ch/research/greg
- Typical uses: geo-coded location of each ethnic group
Minorities at Risk data
- Source: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/
- Typical uses: Group details
Roeder's Ethnolinguistic Fractionalization (ELF) data
- Source: http://weber.ucsd.edu/~proeder/elf.htm
- Typical uses:
Survey Data
Afrobarometer
- Source: http://www.afrobarometer.org/
- Typical uses:
Chicago Council of Foreign Relations Public Opinion Survey
- Source: http://www.ccfr.org/pos_overview.php
- Typical uses: Foreign policy attitudes/beliefs
Eurobarometer
- Source: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm
- Typical uses: Foreign policy attitudes/beliefs
Latinobarometer/Latinobarometro
- Source: http://www.latinobarometro.org/
- Typical uses:
World Values Survey
- Source: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/
- Typical uses: Attachment to state/group
Treaty, Institution, and International Law Data
Alliance Treaty Obligations and Provisions (ATOP) data
- Source: http://atop.rice.edu/
- Typical uses: Shared alliance memberships, details of alliance obligations
Continent of International Law (Koremenos et al.)
- Source: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/koremenos/research
- Typical uses: Treaty/institution details
COW Alliance data
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org/
- Typical uses: Shared alliance memberships
COW International Governmental Organization (IGO) data
- Source: http://www.correlatesofwar.org/
- Typical uses: Shared organization memberships
Expected Utility Generation and Data Management Program (EUGene)
- Source: http://www.eugenesoftware.org/
- Typical uses: Country risk scores, expected utility
Formal Intergovernmental Organizations (FIGO) data
- Source: http://www.prio.no/Research-and-Publications/Journal-of-Peace-Research/Replication-Data/Detail?oid=304933
- Typical uses: IGO characteristics
Gartzke/Jo "Affinity of Nations" data
- Source: http://dss.ucsd.edu/~egartzke/datasets.htm
- Typical uses: Similarity in UN voting
ICOW Multilateral Treaties of Pacific Settlement (MTOPS) data
- Source: http://www.icow.org
- Typical uses:
Morrow/Jo Laws of War data
- Source: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/lawsofwar/home
- Typical uses: Ratification of/compliance with laws of war
Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database (TFDD)
- Source: http://www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu/database/
- Typical uses: List of international rivers by country or continent, river treaties, cooperative and conflictual events over water
Voeten's Documenting Votes in the UN General Assembly data
- Source: http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/ev42/UNVoting.htm
- Typical uses: UN voting
Prominent Replication Data Sets
These data sets are used frequently for replicating or extending previously published research. They offer the advantage of a ready-made set of dependent, independent, and control variables, allowing the user to change one or two elements of a published study to investigate a potential new relationship without having to collect and code the remaining variables.
Expected Utility Generation and Data Management Program (EUGene)
- Source: http://www.eugenesoftware.org/
- Typical uses: Many data sets/variables for many purposes
Fearon/Laitin Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War data
- Source: http://www.stanford.edu/group/ethnic/
- Typical uses: Primarily for civil war/ethnic conflict studies
Peceny/Beer/Sanchez-Terry "Dictatorial Peace" data (from 2002 APSR article)
- Source: http://www.uvm.edu/~cbeer/research.html
- Typical uses: Primarily for interstate conflict studies
Poe/Tate data (from 1994 Poe/Tate APSR article and 1999 Poe/Tate/Keith ISQ article)
- Source: http://www.psci.unt.edu/ihrsc/poetate.htm
- Typical uses: Primarily for human rights/repression studies
Russett/Oneal "Triangulating Peace" data (from 2001 book)
- Source: http://pantheon.yale.edu/~brusset/PeaceStata.zip OR http://pantheon.yale.edu/~brusset/PeaceAscii.zip
- Typical uses: Primarily for interstate conflict studies
State Failure Project / Political Instability Task Force data
- Source: http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/pitf/
- Typical uses: Primarily for civil war/internal conflict studies
Replication Data Archives
Many journals now require that replication data be made available upon publication of scholarly research. Some users host their replication data sets on their personal web sites, but many opt to use these official archives. The author of this chapter, Paul Hensel, also maintains his own International Relations Data Site with links to additional resources not included on this page.
ICPSR Publication-Related Archive:
International Studies Quarterly:
Journal of Conflict Resolution:
- Where available, replication data sets are linked from the journal's online table of contents at http://jcr.sagepub.com/archive/
Journal of Peace Research:
http://www.paulhensel.org/compendium.html
Last updated: 30 July 2018
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