Robert C. Feenstra
Department of Economics
University of California, Davis
and National Bureau of Economic Research

September 1998

The files in this directory contain the U.S. import and export data according to the 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 1972-basis. Data for 1958-1994 on a multilateral basis are contained in the file SIC58_94.ASC, and data for 1972-1994 on a bilateral basis are contained in the files IMPSIC*.ASC and EXPSIC*.ASC. These data were computed as part of a larger NBER project with funding from the National Science Foundation.

You are free to download and use these data. It should be referenced to either of the following NBER working papers:

Robert C. Feenstra, "NBER Trade Database, Disk1: U.S. Imports, 1972-1994: Data and Concordances," NBER Working Paper no. 5515, March 1996.

Robert C. Feenstra, "NBER Trade Database, Disk 3: U.S. Exports, 1972-1994, with State Exports and Other U.S. Data" NBER Working Paper no. 5990, April 1997.

It should be noted the the value of imports reported in this directory is a revised version (for the years 1989-1994) of the value of imports reported in the NBER Trade Database, Disk 1, and reported prior to February 28, 1997, at the NBER Web and FTP site. The SIC import data contained on Disk 1 should not be used.

These working papers should be consulted for further documentation. The variables contained in these files are as follows:

(1) SIC Bilateral Import and Export Data

Record Layout for IMPSIC72.ASC,...,IMPSIC94.ASC:

columns 1-4 - 4-digit SIC number (1972-basis)
columns 6-13 - Source country name
columns 15-20 - Country code (UN codes are used; see below)
columns 22-33 - Import value (CIF, millions of dollars)
columns 35-46 - Import value (Customs value, millions of dollars)
columns 48-49 - Year

Record Layout for EXPSIC72.ASC,...,EXPSIC94.ASC:

columns 1-4 - 4-digit SIC number (1972-basis)
columns 6-13 - Destination country name
columns 15-20 - Country code (UN codes are used; see below)
columns 22-33 - Export value (millions of dollars)
columns 35-36 - Year

Size: Each file is 1-2 megabytes.

Special Values:

Included in these files are the value of exports summed over all source countries, in which case the Country name is listed as WORLD, and the Country code is 100000.

Missing values:

At the top of each file are some records with no SIC number, and a missing value (a period) for the value. These records should be ignored.

(2) WORLD Import and Export Values, 1958-1994

The Value for WORLD imports and exports have been gathered together in the single file SIC58_94.ASC, which also makes use of the 1958-1974 value of imports and 1958-1972 value of exports from John M. Abowd, "Appendix: The NBER Immigration, Trade, and Labor Market Files," in John M. Abowd and Richard B. Freeman, eds. Immigration, Trade, and the Labor Market. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press and NBER, 1991, 407-422.

In addition, SIC58_94.ASC includes the value of domestic shipments from Eric J. Bartelsman and Wayne B. Gray, "The NBER Productivity Database," NBER Technical Working Paper no. 205, October 1996.

Record Layout for SIC58_94.ASC:

columns 1-4 - 4-digit SIC number (1972 basis)
columns 6-7 - Year
columns 9-20 - Import value (CIF, millions of dollars)
columns 22-33 - Export value (millions of dollars)
columns 35-43 - Industry Shipments (millions of dollars)

Size: SIC58_94.ASC has 16,650 records.

*** Country Codes and Names (United Nations Basis) ****

Description:

The U.S. import and export data collected by the Bureau of the Census keeps track of the source country by certain Census codes. For the import database, the United Nations (UN) country codes and names are used instead.

The file COUNTRY.ASC gives a complete list of the UN codes, UN country abbreviations, the corresponding Census codes for 1994, and the full name of the Census country.

Record Layout:

columns 1-6 - United Nations (UN) code
columns 8-15 - Abbreviated UN country name
columns 17-20 - Census country code for 1994
columns 22-50 - Full Census country name

The records are sorted by the six-digit UN codes. The first two-digits of that code are a regional identifier, the next three-digits are a specific country code, and the last digit is a special modifier than equals zero in nearly all cases.

Missing values:

In a few cases, the Census country code for 1994 is missing, as indicated by a blank. This means that the country in question did not appear in the Census import or export data for 1994, but did appear in some earlier year; an example is East Germany.

Special considerations:

There are more Census country codes than UN codes. This means that a given UN code may appear on several subsequent records, followed by the same abbreviated UN country name; on each of these records, a different Census country code and Census county name will appear. For example, South Africa is treated as one country in the UN codes, but is broken down into several smaller regions in the Census codes and names.

Size: COUNTRY.ASC has 242 records.

Sources:

The UN codes are the six digit Standard Classification of Customs Areas and Territories, and are nearly the same as that used by Statistics Canada in their World Trade Database.

The Census codes and country names are taken from the file COUNTRY.DBF contained on the CD-ROM:

U.S. Exports of Merchandise on CD-ROM [machine-readable data file] / prepared by the Bureau of the Census. - Washington: The Bureau [producer and distributor], 1994.