LIS, the Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg is an international project that makes available to researchers a harmonized database of household income. It integrates microdata from different national surveys conducted at regular intervals in 36 participating countries. With respect to Switzerland, the data come from the Swiss Survey on Household Income and Expenditures (ERC), conducted by the Federal Office of Statistics (years 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004). Switzerland also provided data, but to a lesser extent, for the years 1982 and 1992. The strength of this database is that it permits international comparisons, as well as analysis of changes over time. It is very popular among students in the political, economic, and social sciences, but also among researchers who work in the domains of poverty and income inequalities. In addition to paying for country membership fees to LIS, SNSF also finances several scholarships for young researchers to participate in the Introductory Summer Workshop in Luxembourg, as well as a Swiss LIS workshop held in Bern every other year.
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