DOI: 10.5164/IAB.LIABLM7524.de.en.v1
Summary
The Linked-Employer-Employee-Data of the IAB (LIAB) combine interviews from the IAB Establishment Panel with the related establishment and individual data generated in labour administration and social security data processing. The latter cover administrative establishment information from the Establishment History Panel (BHP) and the employment biographies of individuals employed by the interviewed establishments. The LIAB data allow for simultaneous analysis of the supply and demand side of the German labour market.
Note: In LIAB LM 7524, establishments are linked that took part in the IAB Establishment Panel during a so-called base period and for which a consent to link the data is available. The following four base periods are offered, which cannot be altered or combined:
- 1993–2000 (B9300)
- 2000–2007 (B0007)
- 2007–2017 (B0717)
- 2014–2024 (B1424)
For these establishments, the employment biographies - exact to the day - of those employees who were employed there for at least one day from one year prior to the start of the base period until the end of the base period are linked. Due to size restrictions, the employment biographies of all employees can only be provided for establishments with up to 49 employees subject to social security. For larger establishments, a 20 percent random sample of an establishment’s workforce is drawn. For all employees identified in this way, the complete employment biographies from 1975 to 2024 are provided.
Only one base period can be selected for each research project.
Dataset Descriptions and Frequencies
German
- DOI: 10.5164/IAB.FDZD.2609.de.v1
- FDZ-Datenreport 09/2026 (pdf)
- Auszählungen und Label (zip)
English
- DOI: 10.5164/IAB.FDZD.2609.en.v1
- FDZ-Datenreport 09/2026 (pdf)
- Frequencies and labels (zip)
Data Access
On-site Use / Remote Desktop Access including Remote Execution
With your application to LIAB, we provide automatically data from the IAB Establishment Panel for all establishments with linkage consent, the administrative individual data, and the Basis Establishment File of the BHP. Further modules of the BHP have to be requested explicitly in your application.
Only one base period can be selected for each research project.
Test Data
Test data for the base period 2014-2024 in Stata are available in order to allow for the preparation of programs to facilitate remote data access as well as on-site use:
Test data (Stata) for LIAB LM 7524 (zip)
Test data are random and therefore not for analysis!
Generation of a panel dataset
The FDZ offers a Stata do-file (zip) for the IAB Establishment Panel for combining all waves from 1993 up to the most recent wave to form a panel data set. The underlying procedure is described in FDZ Methodenreport 12/2017 (pdf). Please cite the Methodenreport when working with the do-file.
Other Working Tools
- We provide person and establishment fixed effects (AKM effects) for the years 1985 to 2023 for this data set. To access the effects in an existing project please write us an email. Further information can be found in this FDZ-Methodenreport (pdf).
- The LIAB data is based on the IAB Establishment Panel - see working tools for the IAB Establishment Panel
Further working tools as the overview on classifications of economic activities, a list of upper earnings limits and marginal part-time income thresholds and papers on working with the FDZ data can be found at key working tools of the FDZ.
Quality notes
The sample of the IAB Establishment Panel is stratified by establishment size, federal state and industry. The stratification has to be taken into account for all kinds of analyses; see the FDZ website of the IAB Establishment Panel. Analyses that are more granular than the stratification characteristics can produce misleading results (e.g. districts instead of Federal States or 3-digit industries instead of the more coarse branches used for stratification); see vom Berge (2026) for evidence. Since the LIAB data are based on the IAB Establishment Panel, this note also applies here.
Citation
Researchers working with the LIAB are obligated to acknowledge the data base and its documentation within their publications, including the DOI, by using the following reference:
Data:
Filser, Andreas; Graf, Tobias; Grießemer, Stephan; Köhler, Markus; Moczall, Andreas; Oertel, Martina; Schmucker, Alexandra; Schneider, Andreas; Umkehrer, Matthias; Viehring, Joshua; Walz, Hannes (2026): "Linked-Employer-Employee-Data of the IAB, Longitudinal Model (LIAB LM) – Version 7524 v1". Research Data Centre of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). DOI: 10.5164/IAB.LIABLM7524.de.en.v1
The data access was provided via remote desktop/on-site use at the Research Data Centre (FDZ) of the German Federal Employment Agency (BA) at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and subsequently remote data access.
Data documentation:
- Filser, Andreas; Schmucker, Alexandra; Umkehrer, Matthias (2026): Linked-Employer-Employee-Daten des IAB: LIAB Längsschnittmodell (LIAB LM) 1975-2024. FDZ-Datenreport, 09/2026 (de), Nürnberg. DOI: 10.5164/IAB.FDZD.2609.de.v1
- Filser, Andreas; Schmucker, Alexandra; Umkehrer, Matthias (2026): Linked-Employer-Employee-Data of the IAB: LIAB Longitudinal Model (LIAB LM) 1975-2024. FDZ-Datenreport, 09/2026 (en), Nuremberg. DOI: 10.5164/IAB.FDZD.2609.en.v1
According to the FDZ Data Usage Agreement, any type of publication resulting from work with FDZ data must be reported to the FDZ by email at the latest one month after publication. The notification must include an electronic version of the printed version or, after publication, a reprint or a copy of the publication free of charge.
Data Versions
>> Further information on other versions of the LIAB datasets.