U.S. Department of Commerce

Synthetic Longitudinal Business Database (SynLBD)

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Access the SynLBD

How to Access the SynLBD

Apply for a free account on the Synthetic Data Server (SDS) housed at the VirtualRDC at Cornell University

Application decisions are based solely on feasibility

  • Feasibility is determined by evaluating whether the data necessary to conduct the analysis are included on the SynLBD Beta file
  • Decisions generally occur within 10 business days

Results based on the SynLBD should be validated


Synthetic Data Server

The Synthetic Data Server (SDS) at the Virtual RDC:

  • Provides access to SynLBD Beta Data Product and SAS, Stata, and R software
  • Allows users to run programs on synthetic data and view their results
  • Offers users the opportunity to work in a computing environment similar to the one in Census Bureau Research Data Centers

 What is Synthetic Data?

Data that replicates the structure and statistical properties of the original confidential dataset, without using original content.


 What is the BDS?

The Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) is a public–use data set of annual aggregate statistics describing establishment openings and closings, firm startups, job creation and destruction by firm size, age, industrial sector, and state.


 What is the
 VirtualRDC?

The Virtual RDC provides access to public–use data products and a computing environment that mirrors the Census Bureau RDCs.


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Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Center for Economic Studies | (301) 763-6460 | E-mail CES |  Last Revised: June 22, 2012