Princeton University Library
Pliny Fisk Library of Economics & Finance
This disk contains data on world trade, and some other statistics pertaining to capital and labor. Data begins in 1970, and ends anywhere between 1985 (eg, COMTAP) and 1992 (eg, WTDB). It is the only major source of world trade information in electronic format between 1970 and 1980 (the year World Trade Analyzer begins).
There is no software on the disk. Data is stored in ASCII files, which can be opened through Excel.
In addition to the help files mentioned below, there are four general-purpose help files on the disk:
-ISIC.TXT is a list of standard ISIC industry codes.
-SITC_BEA.TXT is a list of BEA industry codes, tying them with SITC industry codes.
-WT_SITC.TXT is the same, but with descriptions.
-COUNTRY.TXT is a list of the country codes used throughout the data files on this disk.
-Note: While not really a general-purpose help file, NTB_OECD.TXT contains a list of
3-digit ISIC industry codes, which are helpful for many data files.
There are 7 major categories of data files on this disk. What follows is a brief overview of each. Additional information about them, including the layout of the data, can be found in the corresponding help files on the disk. Please note that the following categories are arranged alphabetically; the most important one comes at the very end (#7, WTDB).
1. COMTAP (1970-1985)
Help: COMTAP3.TXT, COMTAP4.TXT
This is bilateral trade and production data. COMIMP & COMEXP files store data in 3-digit ISIC codes, while COMPROD, COMM_** and COMX_** files store it in standard (1- to 4-digit) ISIC. Data files have the following formats:
COMIMP.ASC (imports)
COMEXP.ASC (exports)
COMPROD.ASC (production)
COMM_**.ASC (trade data as reported by importing country)
COMX_**.ASC (trade data as reported by exporting country)
In all cases, ** is the country abbreviation (check the help files, COMTAP3.TXT
and COMTAP4.TXT).
2. EN_OECD, EN_WORLD (1970-1990)
Help: EN_OECD.TXT, EN_WORLD.TXT
EN_OECD describes the supplies of capital, labor, and land for 11 OECD countries. There is only one data file, EN_OECD.ASC.
EN_WORLD describes the supplies of capital, labor, and land for all countries
in the Penn World Tables. There is only one data file, EN_WORLD.ASC.
3. IO_TABLE (1982-1990)
Help: IO_TABLE.TXT
These are input-output tables for the US and the UK. The data is somewhat sporadic, covering the US in 1982, 1987 and 1990 and the UK in 1989 and 1990. UK data is given in pounds. It should also be noted that two special tables of industry codes are used, one for the US and one for the UK. These can be derived from ISIC codes in the help file, IO_TABLE.TXT.
Data files have the following formats:
IO1_US**.ASC
IO2_US**.ASC
IO1_UK**.ASC
IO2_UK**.ASC
In all cases, ** is the last two digits of the year reported.
4. NTB_OECD
Help: NTB_OECD.TXT
This lists non-tariff barriers by OECD country. Uses 3-digit ISIC codes (described in the help file, NTB_OECD.TXT). There is only one file in this series, NTB_OECD.ASC.
5. T_**_INT.ASC, T_**_FIN.ASC
Help: T_README.TXT
These files list tariffs and non-tariff barriers by country. Thirty-one countries are covered. Some files cover only one year, while others, notably Argentina, Morocco, and Pakistan, cover several. Commodities are described in the 4-digit Harmonized System code (available at SwissInfo.net).
Data files have the following formats:
T_**_INT.ASC (tariffs on intermediate input goods)
T_**_FIN.ASC (tariffs on final goods)
In all cases, ** is the country code (described in the help file, T_README.TXT).
6. WBEA (1970-1992)
Help: WBEA.TXT
These files cover bilateral values of trade between countries in the World Trade Database. They use the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) industry classification, which is explained in WT_SITC.TXT.
There is one file for each year. The format of the files is as follows:
WBEA**.ASC (where ** is the last two digits of the year)
WBEA_IMP.ASC (total multilateral imports by industry)
WBEA_EXP.ASC (total multilateral exports by industry)
7. WTDB (1970-1992)
Help: WTDB.TXT
Statistics Canada World Trade Database. This is the "main course" of the CD, as it were. Bilateral values of trade between countries. Commodities are represented according to a modified SITC code (check WT_SITC.TXT for descriptions).
Data files have the following formats:
WTDB**_#.ASC (WTDB data by year)
Each year is broken up into three files, so ** is the year, while # is a number between 1 and 3. There is also a special file in this collection:
WT_BILAT.ASC (total trade between each pair of countries, in one file)