R code to create and use the global LIVA database and web app. There are a couple of different ways to use this repository:
A. Download the complete global LIVA database 1999-2021 from the following files:
- db-liva.csv : LIVA by company-year (direct download); see variable descriptions
- db-gics.csv : Description of GICS codes (direct download)
- db-countries.csv : Description of country codes (direct download)
B. Recreate the database, for instance to build it with a different set of countries / time periods, or with different parameters / methods. Recreating the database from scratch can also be useful for replication or understanding the precise methodology used. Recreation requires two steps:
- Download the security information from the Compustat NA and Global databases. This can be done either with the script download-compustat-data.R directly accessing the WRDS (Wharton Research Data Services) cloud (make sure to follow the WRDS set-up instructions and add your WRDS username), or manually based on the variables outlined in the file db-compustat-variables.csv.
- Build the LIVA database using the build-liva-dbase.R script. This should not take more than a few minutes on a regular PC. The LIVA database in this repo was created using the two scripts mentioned above. Note that there might be some differences between a newly created database and the published one because of Compustat data updates.
C. Adapt the web app in the script app.R. This is the code behind the app on https://phebo.shinyapps.io/liva-public/.
For more information see www.liva-measure.com. Scientific methods and background can be found in Wibbens, P. D., & Siggelkow, N. (2020). Introducing LIVA to measure long‐term firm performance. Strategic Management Journal, 41(5), 867-890. The paper is available open access for everyone via https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3114. Please cite the paper when using any LIVA data in your work.