IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/eoe/escoet/escoe-tr-28.html

A Roadmap for Developing a New LEED Infrastructure for the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Forth, John
  • Bryson, Alex
  • Palmou, Christina

Abstract

Linked employer-employee data (LEED) are a valuable component of any country’s data infrastructure. However, existing sources of LEED in the UK have significant limitations. This report argues that the UK now has a strategic opportunity to build a new LEED infrastructure around the employment and earnings data from the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay-As-You-Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI) system. These data are comprehensive in coverage, longitudinal, high-frequency and linkable to other datasets. The report proposes that the new LEED infrastructure should be based around a linked employer-employee spine, which is augmented with data matched in from administrative databases and surveys. The resulting infrastructure should be periodically updated, curated and made available to the research community under controlled conditions. The report sets out a roadmap for the development of this new LEED infrastructure, identifies relevant stakeholders, and outlines ways in which the data could inform policy-making on issues such as business dynamism, productivity, wage growth, inactivity and job quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Forth, John & Bryson, Alex & Palmou, Christina, 2025. "A Roadmap for Developing a New LEED Infrastructure for the UK," Technical Reports escoe-tr-28, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence.
    • Handle: RePEc:eoe:escoet:escoe-tr-28
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.repository-escoe.com/id/eprint/66/1/ESCoE-TR-28.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Dorsett & Jessica Hug, 2022. "Using UK Tax Records to Produce New Statistics on Labour Market Transitions," Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) Discussion Papers ESCoE DP-2022-10, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE).
    2. David Card & Jörg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2013. "Workplace Heterogeneity and the Rise of West German Wage Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(3), pages 967-1015.
    3. Anders Frederiksen & Timothy Halliday & Alexander K. Koch, 2016. "Within- and Cross-Firm Mobility and Earnings Growth," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 69(2), pages 320-353, March.
    4. Steven J. Davis & R. Jason Faberman & John Haltiwanger, 2006. "The Flow Approach to Labor Markets: New Data Sources and Micro-Macro Links," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 3-26, Summer.
    5. Alessandra Casarico & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2024. "What Firms Do: Gender Inequality in Linked Employer-Employee Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 325-355.
    6. Jesper Bagger & Fran?ois Fontaine & Fabien Postel-Vinay & Jean-Marc Robin, 2014. "Tenure, Experience, Human Capital, and Wages: A Tractable Equilibrium Search Model of Wage Dynamics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1551-1596, June.
    7. Emmanuele Bobbio & Henning Bunzel, 2018. "The Danish Matched Employer-Employee Data," Economics Working Papers 2018-03, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    8. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7rep5mp5ij95l94ec64n5tdclp is not listed on IDEAS
    9. David Card & Jesse Rothstein & Moises Yi, 2024. "Industry Wage Differentials: A Firm-Based Approach," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(S1), pages 11-59.
    10. Pierpaolo Parrotta & Dario Pozzoli & Mariola Pytlikova, 2014. "The nexus between labor diversity and firm’s innovation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 303-364, April.
    11. Li, Gao-Xi & Ren, Yi & Yi, Peiru, 2025. "Sparse facility location and network design problems," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    12. Catherine Buffington & Lucia Foster & Ron Jarmin & Scott Ohlmacher & Scott Ohlmacher, 2017. "The management and organizational practices survey (MOPS): An overview1," Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, IOS Press, issue 1, pages 1-26.
    13. Stefan Bender & Nicholas Bloom & David Card & John Van Reenen & Stefanie Wolter, 2018. "Management Practices, Workforce Selection, and Productivity," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 371-409.
    14. Richard Upward & Peter W. Wright, 2019. "Don't Look Down: The Consequences of Job Loss in a Flexible Labour Market," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(341), pages 166-200, January.
    15. Forth, John & Bryson, Alex & Phan, Van & Ritchie, Felix & Singleton, Carl & Stokes, Lucy & Whittard, Damian, 2024. "Revisiting Sample Bias in the UK's Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, with Implications for Estimates of Low Pay and the Bite of the National Living Wage," IZA Discussion Papers 17291, IZA Network @ LISER.
    16. Lemma, Yohannes & Lui, Silvia & Romaniuk, Louise & Wolf, Nick, 2023. "The UK Longitudinal Business Database," Technical Reports escoe-tr-23, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence.
    17. John Haltiwanger & Henry Hyatt & Erika McEntarfer, 2018. "Who Moves Up the Job Ladder?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 301-336.
    18. Jörg Heining & Wolfram Klosterhuber & Stefan Seth, 2014. "An Overview on the Linked Employer-Employee Data of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB)," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 134(1), pages 141-148.
    19. Tanaka, Satoshi & Warren, Lawrence & Wiczer, David, 2023. "Earnings growth, job flows and churn," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 86-98.
    20. Julia Lane & Bryce Stephens, 2006. "Integrated Employer-Employee Data: New Resources for Regional Data Analysis," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 29(3), pages 264-277, July.
    21. repec:iab:iabfda:202311(en is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Bachmann, Rüdiger & Bayer, Christian & Merkl, Christian & Seth, Stefan & Stüber, Heiko & Wellschmied, Felix, 2021. "Worker churn in the cross section and over time: New evidence from Germany," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 781-797.
    23. Van Phan & Carl Singleton & Alex Bryson & John Forth & Felix Ritchie & Lucy Stokes & Damian Whittard, 2023. "Accounting for firms in gender-ethnicity wage gaps throughout the earnings distribution," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2023-16, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    24. Belzil, Christian, 2000. "Job Creation and Job Destruction, Worker Reallocation, and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 183-203, April.
    25. Clemens Fuest & Andreas Peichl & Sebastian Siegloch, 2018. "Do Higher Corporate Taxes Reduce Wages? Micro Evidence from Germany," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 393-418, February.
    26. Parrotta, Pierpaolo & Pozzoli, Dario & Pytlikova, Mariola, 2014. "Labor diversity and firm productivity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 144-179.
    27. Melanie Wallskog & Nicholas Bloom & Scott W. Ohlmacher & Cristina Tello-Trillo, 2024. "Within-Firm Pay Inequality and Productivity," NBER Working Papers 32240, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Gomes, Pedro, 2012. "Labour market flows: Facts from the United Kingdom," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 165-175.
    29. David Card & Jesse Rothstein & Moises Yi, 2025. "Location, Location, Location," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 297-336, January.
    30. John Haltiwanger & Erik Hurst & Javier Miranda & Antoinette Schoar, 2017. "Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number halt14-1.
    31. Bram Timmermans, 2010. "The Danish Integrated Database for Labor Market Research: Towards Demystification for the English Speaking Audience," DRUID Working Papers 10-16, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    32. Michael W. L. Elsby & Donggyun Shin & Gary Solon, 2016. "Wage Adjustment in the Great Recession and Other Downturns: Evidence from the United States and Great Britain," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 249-291.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Card & Jesse Rothstein & Moises Yi, 2026. "How Do Neighborhoods and Firms Affect Intergenerational Mobility?," Working Papers 26-18, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Edoardo Di Porto & Marco Pagano & Vincenzo Pezone & Raffaele Saggio & Fabiano Schivardi, 2024. "Careers and Wages in Family Firms: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data," NBER Working Papers 33219, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Mertens, Matthias & Müller, Steffen & Neuschäffer, Georg, 2025. "Identifying Rent-sharing Using Firmsʼ Energy Input Mix," IWH Discussion Papers 19/2022, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), revised 2025.
    4. Di Addario, Sabrina & Kline, Patrick & Saggio, Raffaele & Sølvsten, Mikkel, 2023. "It ain’t where you’re from, it’s where you’re at: Hiring origins, firm heterogeneity, and wages," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 340-374.
    5. Felix Poege & Fabian Gaessler & Karin Hoisl & Dietmar Harhoff & Matthias Dorner, 2026. "Filling the Gap: The Consequences of Collaborator Loss in Corporate R&D," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 72(2), pages 1616-1635, February.
    6. Steffen Mueller & Georg Neuschaeffer, 2021. "Worker Participation in Decision‐making, Worker Sorting, and Firm Performance," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 436-478, October.
    7. Marino, Marianna & Parrotta, Pierpaolo & Pozzoli, Dario, 2016. "Educational diversity and knowledge transfers via inter-firm labor mobility," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 168-183.
    8. Kline, Patrick, 2024. "Firm wage effects," Handbook of Labor Economics,, Elsevier.
    9. Poege, Felix & Gaessler, Fabian & Hoisl, Karin & Harhoff, Dietmar & Dorner, Matthias, 2022. "Filling the Gap: The Consequences of Collaborator Loss in Corporate R&D," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 340, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    10. Patrick M. Kline, 2024. "Firm Wage Effects," NBER Working Papers 33084, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. John Forth & Carl Singleton & Alex Bryson & Van Phan & Felix Ritchie & Lucy Stokes & Damian Whittard, 2025. "The Impact of a Rising Wage Floor on Labour Mobility Across Firms," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 63(4), pages 746-757, December.
    12. Sabrina Di Addario & Patrick Kline & Raffaele Saggio & Mikkel Soelvsten, 2022. "It ain't where you're from it's where you're at: firm effects, state dependence, and the gender wage gap," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1374, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    13. Biro, Aniko & Bisztray, Márta & da Fonseca, João G. & Molnár, Tímea Laura, 2023. "Accident-Induced Absence from Work and Wage Ladders," IZA Discussion Papers 16312, IZA Network @ LISER.
    14. Victoria Gregory, 2020. "Firms as Learning Environments: Implications for Earnings Dynamics and Job Search," Working Papers 2020-036, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised Sep 2023.
    15. Christopher Taber & Rune Vejlin, 2020. "Estimation of a Roy/Search/Compensating Differential Model of the Labor Market," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(3), pages 1031-1069, May.
    16. Braunschweig, Luisa & Dauth, Wolfgang & Roth, Duncan, 2024. "Job Mobility and Assortative Matching," IAB-Discussion Paper 202411, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    17. Antoine Bertheau & Rune Vejlin, 2025. "Job Ladders by Firm Wage and Productivity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 58, October.
    18. Xiaowei Xu, 2025. "On the move: local opportunities and youth migration," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(4), pages 451-473, December.
    19. Labanca, Claudio & Pozzoli, Dario, 2022. "Hours Constraints and Wage Differentials across Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 14992, IZA Network @ LISER.
    20. James Spletzer & Elizabeth Weber Handwerker, 2015. "The Role of Establishments and the Concentration of Occupations in Wage Inequality," Working Papers id:7427, eSocialSciences.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C80 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - General
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eoe:escoet:escoe-tr-28. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Communications Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/escoeuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.