WRDS FAQs

1. What is WRDS?

Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) is a comprehensive economic and financial data management system intende d solely for research purposes. The data, licensed to the Wharton School from various sources, cover a wide range of databases across multiple disciplines such as Finance, Marketing, Management, Accounting, Economics, Banking, and Insurance. The data are maintained and supported by Wharton staff. The WRDS system is now licensed to 250 leading universities and government institutions worldwide. http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu

2. What kind of data is found on WRDS?

The data on WRDS covers thousands of companies, including security prices and trading volume, income and balance sheet items, stock market indices, bond prices and interest rates, mutual fund and stock ownership information, options data , and a wide array of macroeconomic time series. International data, marketing and industry reports are also available. The Wharton School maintains distribution agreements for specific data sets with each distributor and stores the accumulated data on the Wharton UNIX network. The data can be accessed by the user whose school maintains a license agreement with The Wharton School and subscribe to the appropriate data sources.

The following is a quick reference chart to the most commonly used data.

DATA	DISTRIBUTOR	DATA SETS
Balance sheets, income statements and other company-based financial items	COMPUSTAT	Industrial, Full Coverage, Research, and Backdata Annual/Quarterly, Business Industry Segments Price, Dividends, Earnings
Stock prices and returns, Mutual Fund and CRSP Compustat Merged	CRSP	Monthly / Daily Stock Files, Indices files, Mutual Fund and CCM
Intraday stock price bid and ask quotes	TAQ	Trades and Quotes
Analysts Estimates	IBES	Daily Detailed History, Summary History
U.S. Treasury interest rates	CRSP	Bonds, Bills, and Inflation files
Bank financials	COMPUSTAT	Bank Annual / Quarterly
Banking industry conditions	FDIC	All files
U.S. Macro Economics	Global Insight (formerly DRI)	Annual, Quarterly and, Monthly BASIC Economics
International Economics	Global Insight (formerly DRI)	Annual, Quarterly and, Monthly BASIC Economics
International Firm-level data	COMPUSTAT/Global Vantage	Annual
Options	Optionmetrics	Daily
Executive Compensation	COMPUSTAT/Execcomp	Annual

In addition, WRDS provides access to the following databases to all subscribers at no charge:

Bank Regulatory Database Blockholders CBOE Indexes DMEF - Direct Marketing Educational Foundation Dow Jones Fama-French ("Research") Portfolios and Factors

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Federal Reserve Bank reports Penn World Tables Philadelphia Stock Exchange Options SEC Disclosure of Order Execution

3. How can I access WRDS data?

WRDS may be accessed either through a robust web interface or through a UNIX login session. An account with user-name and password authorization is required to access WRDS using either method. A UNIX session is better suited for custom user programming. It is helpful to have a basic knowledge of UNIX system commands, FORTRAN programming and/or SAS software, the two software tools most commonly used to access WRDS data. Knowledge of C programming is also helpful in using the C facilities with CRSP data.

4. How do I perform a web query to extract data?

All databases have a common web interface. In most cases you would complete these four steps to extract data:

1. Select date range and frequency of the data
   
2. Choose one of the 3 methods to search the database:
   • Input identifiers into a box (i.e. tickers, CUSIP's)
   • or, Attach a file with a list of indentifiers
   • or, Search the entire database
   
   
3. Select the output variables (i.e. prices, balance sheet items...)
   
4. Choose the format of the output file (i.e. comma delimited, Matlab .csv...)

Try out a Data Demo to see how these steps unfold.

5. How can I receive a trial account and who do I contact for more information on WRDS?

A trial account allows you to use WRDS with all its features for a limited period. Trial accounts are offered to faculty and staff at qualifying research and academic institutions. Send email to wrds-support@wharton.upenn.edu or use our online request form for information about setting up a trial account or if you have any questions about subscriptions to WRDS.

6. WRDS Terms of Use