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Worldscope meets Compustat: A comparison of financial databases

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  • Ulbricht, Niels
  • Weiner, Christian

Abstract

With this study we are the first to systematically compare today's two major counterparts as a source of accounting and financial data for researchers: Compustat North America by Standard & Poor's and Worldscope by Thomson Financial. This investigation is conducted for U.S. and partly Canadian data over an extensive period from 1985 to 2003. We examine more than 650 data items available in both databases and address the question of whether or not the decision for one or the other source may have an impact on the outcome of research projects. It is probably commonly assumed that this impact is minor, but it also leaves room to question certain results. We show that the use of both databases should lead to comparable results, but also find that if, e.g. a size bias, is not treated with care the quality of results may differ considerable. Furthermore after 1998 the number of firms covered by Worldscope exceeds the one covered by Compustat by about one fourth.

Suggested Citation

  • Ulbricht, Niels & Weiner, Christian, 2005. "Worldscope meets Compustat: A comparison of financial databases," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2005-064, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb649:sfb649dp2005-064
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alford, Aw, 1992. "The Effect Of The Set Of Comparable Firms On The Accuracy Of The Price Earnings Valuation Method," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 94-108.
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    4. Bennin, Robert, 1980. "Error Rates in CRSP and COMPUSTAT: A Second Look," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 35(5), pages 1267-1271, December.
    5. Clarke, Richard N, 1989. "SICs as Delineators of Economic Markets," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(1), pages 17-31, January.
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    Cited by:

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    4. Boyd, John H. & Jalal, Abu M., 2012. "A new measure of financial development: Theory leads measurement," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 341-357.
    5. Nigel Driffield & Sarmistha Pal, 2010. "Evolution of capital structure in east Asia—corporate inertia or endeavours?," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 173(1), pages 1-29, January.
    6. Cakici, Nusret & Zaremba, Adam, 2021. "Who should be afraid of infections? Pandemic exposure and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    7. Landis, Conrad & Skouras, Spyros, 2021. "Guidelines for asset pricing research using international equity data from Thomson Reuters Datastream," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
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    9. Cakici, Nusret & Zaremba, Adam, 2021. "Liquidity and the cross-section of international stock returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
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