The Luxembourg Income Study and the Luxembourg Employment Study as Resources for Labour Market Research

This paper gives an overview of the main areas of labour market research to which the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) and the Luxembourg Employment Study (LES) projects have contributed and stresses how the characteristics of the two data-bases have allowed researchers to explore specific topics. Research results on income inequality and working time and on the relationship between low pay and poverty are reported as examples of original contributions made by LIS researchers to the respective fields. Finally, the results of a meta-analysis of journal articles on labour and population economics are used to determine which type of data labour economists use for empirical research and to formulate some suggestions for future developments of the LES database