Complab in Demscore

The Data

Demscore currently includes data from Complab SPIN and GRACE.

SPIN, the Social Policy Indicators Database, include seven datasets covering different aspects of social policy available, two data additional datasets are in progress.

GRACE, Governing the Anthropocene – Environmental Policy and Outcomes in a Comparative Perspective, is a longitudinal and comparative study on environmental governance has created a dataset of national policy responses for environmental management and protection in 37 countries for the period 1970-2022.

Complab SPIN, takes the step forward to move from descriptive to causal analyses of social change that has long been deemed necessary in the social sciences. Due to the difficulties of conducting experimental studies, social scientists use comparisons between countries and over time as fruitful strategies to analyze central processes in modern societies. Comparative research was long constrained by a lack of relevant and reliable data, particularly in the field of social policy where expenditure data were often used.

The SPIN database now offers data for a number of different research purposes, that include but are not limited to:

Intergenerational relations and social justice

SPIN takes on an explicit life cycle perspective, facilitating analyses of inter-generational relations. Do countries satisfy the demand for social protection of all generations or are the needs of the young, middle-aged and the elderly in opposition and differently favored by the welfare state?

Targeting versus universalism

SPIN includes detailed quantitative information about the structure of several different types of cash benefit programs, facilitating more detailed assessments of the causes and consequences of various institutional designs in policymaking.

Public service

SPIN is not only oriented towards cash benefit programs, but also addresses the interplay between cash and care. We are in the process of establishing new comparative data on child care arrangements, including financing, coverage and quality of services.

Fiscal arrangements

SPIN involves efforts to measure the “hidden” welfare state of fiscal policy, including the extent to which countries have introduced various forms of tax allowances and credits, not least for families with children.

Social class and gender relations

SPIN is designed to address how welfare states affect class and gender relations, for example by our focus on family policy, parental leave benefits and degree of income protection across earnings-levels.

Global social policy

SPIN is broadened beyond longstanding OECD-member countries and collects comparative social policy data for all EU countries, North America and parts of Oceania, Asia and Latin America.

Above is an overview of the data sources provided by Complab and how they are prepared and included in Demscore.

Variables from Complab datasets in Demscore are available in their original form in the datasets’ respective Output Units. Since all Complab Datasets collect observations on a country-year level, they can all be expressed in the same Output Unit (Complab Country-Year) and no translations within this Module are necessary.