In the light of better and more detailed administrative databases, this open access book provides statistical tools for evaluating the effects of public policies advocated by governments and public institutions. Experts from academia, national statistics offices and various research centers present modern econometric methods for an efficient data-driven policy evaluation and monitoring, assess the causal effects of policy measures and report on best practices of successful data management and usage. Topics include data confidentiality, data linkage, and national practices in policy areas such as public health, education and employment. It offers scholars as well as practitioners from public administrations, consultancy firms and nongovernmental organizations insights into counterfactual impact evaluation methods and the potential of data-based policy and program evaluation.

This book provides modern technical answers to the legal requirements of pseudonymisation as recommended by privacy legislation. It covers topics such as modern regulatory frameworks for sharing and linking sensitive information, concepts and algorithms for privacy-preserving record linkage and their computational aspects, practical considerations such as dealing with dirty and missing data, as well as privacy, risk, and performance assessment measures. Existing techniques for privacy-preserving record linkage are evaluated empirically and real-world application examples that scale to population sizes are described. The book also includes pointers to freely available software tools, benchmark data sets, and tools to generate synthetic data that can be used to test and evaluate linkage techniques. This book consists of fourteen chapters grouped into four parts, and two appendices. The first part introduces the reader to the topic of linking sensitive data, the second part covers methods and techniques to link such data, the third part discusses aspects of practical importance, and the fourth part provides an outlook of future challenges and open research problems relevant to linking sensitive databases. The appendices provide pointers and describe freely available, open-source software systems that allow the linkage of sensitive data, and provide further details about the evaluations presented. A companion Web site at https://dmm.anu.edu.au/lsdbook2020 provides additional material and Python programs used in the book. This book is mainly written for applied scientists, researchers, and advanced practitioners in governments, industry, and universities who are concerned with developing, implementing, and deploying systems and tools to share sensitive information in administrative, commercial, or medical databases. The Book describes how linkage methods work and how to evaluate their performance. It covers all the major concepts and methods and also discusses practical matters such as computational efficiency, which are critical if the methods are to be used in practice - and it does all this in a highly accessible way! David J. Hand, Imperial College, London.

A comprehensive compilation of new developments in data linkage methodology The increasing availability of large administrative databases has led to a dramatic rise in the use of data linkage, yet the standard texts on linkage are still those which describe the seminal work from the 1950-60s, with some updates. Linkage and analysis of data across sources remains problematic due to lack of discriminatory and accurate identifiers, missing data and regulatory issues. Recent developments in data linkage methodology have concentrated on bias and analysis of linked data, novel approaches to organising relationships between databases and privacy-preserving linkage. Methodological Developments in Data Linkage brings together a collection of contributions from members of the international data linkage community, covering cutting edge methodology in this field. It presents opportunities and challenges provided by linkage of large and often complex datasets, including analysis problems, legal and security aspects, models for data access and the development of novel research areas. New methods for handling uncertainty in analysis of linked data, solutions for anonymised linkage and alternative models for data collection are also discussed. Key Features: Presents cutting edge methods for a topic of increasing importance to a wide range of research areas, with applications to data linkage systems internationally Covers the essential issues associated with data linkage today Includes examples based on real data linkage systems, highlighting the opportunities, successes and challenges that the increasing availability of linkage data provides Novel approach incorporates technical aspects of both linkage, management and analysis of linked data This book will be of core interest to academics, government employees, data holders, data managers, analysts and statisticians who use administrative data. It will also appeal to researchers in a variety of areas, including epidemiology, biostatistics, social statistics, informatics, policy and public health.

This book offers a practical understanding of issues involved in improving data quality through editing, imputation, and record linkage. The first part of the book deals with methods and models, focusing on the Fellegi-Holt edit-imputation model, the Little-Rubin multiple-imputation scheme, and the Fellegi-Sunter record linkage model. The second part presents case studies in which these techniques are applied in a variety of areas, including mortgage guarantee insurance, medical, biomedical, highway safety, and social insurance as well as the construction of list frames and administrative lists. This book offers a mixture of practical advice, mathematical rigor, management insight and philosophy.

A comprehensive compilation of new developments in data linkage methodology The increasing availability of large administrative databases has led to a dramatic rise in the use of data linkage, yet the standard texts on linkage are still those which describe the seminal work from the 1950-60s, with some updates. Linkage and analysis of data across sources remains problematic due to lack of discriminatory and accurate identifiers, missing data and regulatory issues. Recent developments in data linkage methodology have concentrated on bias and analysis of linked data, novel approaches to organising relationships between databases and privacy-preserving linkage. Methodological Developments in Data Linkage brings together a collection of contributions from members of the international data linkage community, covering cutting edge methodology in this field. It presents opportunities and challenges provided by linkage of large and often complex datasets, including analysis problems, legal and security aspects, models for data access and the development of novel research areas. New methods for handling uncertainty in analysis of linked data, solutions for anonymised linkage and alternative models for data collection are also discussed. Key Features: Presents cutting edge methods for a topic of increasing importance to a wide range of research areas, with applications to data linkage systems internationally Covers the essential issues associated with data linkage today Includes examples based on real data linkage systems, highlighting the opportunities, successes and challenges that the increasing availability of linkage data provides Novel approach incorporates technical aspects of both linkage, management and analysis of linked data This book will be of core interest to academics, government employees, data holders, data managers, analysts and statisticians who use administrative data. It will also appeal to researchers in a variety of areas, including epidemiology, biostatistics, social statistics, informatics, policy and public health.

The environment for obtaining information and providing statistical data for policy makers and the public has changed significantly in the past decade, raising questions about the fundamental survey paradigm that underlies federal statistics. New data sources provide opportunities to develop a new paradigm that can improve timeliness, geographic or subpopulation detail, and statistical efficiency. It also has the potential to reduce the costs of producing federal statistics. The panel's first report described federal statistical agencies' current paradigm, which relies heavily on sample surveys for producing national statistics, and challenges agencies are facing; the legal frameworks and mechanisms for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of statistical data and for providing researchers access to data, and challenges to those frameworks and mechanisms; and statistical agencies access to alternative sources of data. The panel recommended a new approach for federal statistical programs that would combine diverse data sources from government and private sector sources and the creation of a new entity that would provide the foundational elements needed for this new approach, including legal authority to access data and protect privacy. This second of the panel's two reports builds on the analysis, conclusions, and recommendations in the first one. This report assesses alternative methods for implementing a new approach that would combine diverse data sources from government and private sector sources, including describing statistical models for combining data from multiple sources; examining statistical and computer science approaches that foster privacy protections; evaluating frameworks for assessing the quality and utility of alternative data sources; and various models for implementing the recommended new entity. Together, the two reports offer ideas and recommendations to help federal statistical agencies examine and evaluate data from alternative sources and then combine them as appropriate to provide the country with more timely, actionable, and useful information for policy makers, businesses, and individuals.