[Seeking Help] Income and Consumption Data for Developing Nations

[Hemanth Chakravarthy]

Hey everyone!

Hope everyone's well. 

I'm looking for datasets with household-level labor, income, and consumption data for developing nations. Ideally, I'm looking for panels with microdata with an occupation/kind of labor variable, an income unit, and a consumption unit set in the developing world. In particular, datasets in Bangladesh or, more broadly, South Asia would be really useful. 

So far, I have the Townsend Thai Project, the VDSA (Village Dynamics in South Asia), the IndiaSTAT datasets (though these are macro), the Rural Economic and Demographic Survey (REDS), the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS), and the SHAHAR Project Baseline Survey. Please share any datasets (openly available or available on request) that you think are similar to these.

Thanks!

[Emmerich Davies]

Also just saw that you’re looking for data in low-income countries more broadly. The world bank’s living standards measurement surveys is the most comprehensive I know of.

-Emmerich

[Emmerich Davies]

Hi Hemanth,

* In India, you might look at the NSS, too.
* In Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal you might look at Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) although for Bangladesh and Nepal you have to request them from the census bureau and I believe they charge for individual and institutional use.
* Bangladesh here: http://203.112.218.65:8008/PageWebMenuContent.aspx?MenuKey=62
* Nepal here: https://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/2301
* In Bangladesh you might also look at the RAND-Matlab survey (Matlab Health and Socieconomic Survey): https://www.rand.org/well-being/social-and-behavioral-policy/data/FLS/MHSS.html

hth,
Emmerich

[Hemanth Chakravarthy]

This is useful, thanks! And yes - forgot to mention the NSS.