merging global findex and GEM data

[Ruqqia Khan]

I have 3 datasets that offer different information on countries. Global findex data set is on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Women, Business and the Law (WBL) is a World Bank Group project collecting unique data on the laws and regulations that restrict women's economic opportunities and Global Entrepreneurship monitor which has 2 daasets (APS) looks at the characteristics, motivations and ambitions of individuals starting businesses, as well as social attitudes towards entrepreneurship. (NES) looks at the national context in which individuals start businesses. I want to merge all of them for analysis. what should be the basefile and what merge command to use
also how can i attach datasets here

[Clyde Schechter]

If each of the data sets contains a single observation per country, then it doesn't matter which one you start with, nor what order you merge them in. The command you will need will be -merge 1:1 country-. See -help merge- for the full syntax and options.

If, however, some of the data varies with time, and the data sets contain one observation per country per year (or other fixed unit of time), then you are looking at -merge 1:1 country year-.

Possibly more challenging is if you have a mix where some of the data sets contain one observation per country and others have one observation per country per year. In that case it is probably simplest to first combine all the single observation per country data sets with -merge 1:1 country-, then do a single -merge 1:m- to bring in one of the data sets with one observation per country per year. From that point on the rest is -merge 1:1 country year-.

It is not recommended to attach data sets here. Many people are, wisely in my view, reluctant to download any kind of attachment from strangers. The -dataex- command is the preferred way to show example data on this Forum. If you are running version 16 or a fully updated version 15.1 or 14.2, -dataex- is already part of your official Stata installation. If not, run -ssc install dataex- to get it. Either way, run -help dataex- to read the simple instructions for using it. -dataex- will save you time; it is easier and quicker than typing out tables. It includes complete information about aspects of the data that are often critical to answering your question but cannot be seen from tabular displays or screenshots. It also makes it possible for those who want to help you to create a faithful representation of your example to try out their code, which in turn makes it more likely that their answer will actually work in your data.

If you need more specific advice, or if your data do not seem to match any of the patterns I have outlined here, post back and use -dataex- to show examples from the data sets.

[Sherif Sulemana]

How do I organize global findex and run probit estimation on financial resilience as dependent variable? Please Help.