The IZA Evaluation Dataset Survey (IZA ED Survey) is a novel panel survey which tracks the employment history, behavior and individual traits of a large, representative cohort of individuals. The IZA ED Survey covers a panel of 18,000 individuals who registered as unemployed at the Federal Employment Agency in Germany between June 2007 and May 2008. The individuals were interviewed up to four times over a time span of three years, starting at their entry into unemployment. This data allows the researchers to observe dynamics with respect to individual and labor market characteristics during the early stage of unemployment, as well as tracking long-run outcomes. Within the survey, information on labor market activities, ALMP (Active Labor Market Policy) participation, migration background, search behavior, ethnic and social networks, psychological factors, cognitive and non-cognitive abilities, attitudes and preferences was recorded. Its large sample size of individuals entering unemployment, in combination with its broad set of variables and the measurement of unemployment dynamics offers many new perspectives for empirical labor market research.
