Micro Enterprise Survey 2022

The MES datafiles are organized in ways that reflect the corresponding questionnaire. The variables that are standard across countries have the first letter in their name correspond to the questionnaire section where the variable belongs in the questionnaire, i.e., a1 denotes section A. The variables that are country or region specific are generally named using a prefix in capital letters. These country-specific variables are generally not available beyond the specific country or region where they were implemented. For the Madagascar 2022 MES, these variables use prefixes MG. All variables are numeric with the exception of those variables with an “x” at the end of their names. The suffix “x” denotes that the variable is alpha-numeric.

The MES datafiles contain two establishment identifiers, idstd and id. The former is a global unique identifier of each establishment, while the latter is unique identifier within each survey. The variable idstd can be used to match the WBES establishment one-to-one across databases. The variables wweak, wmedian, and wstrong corresponding to sampling weights based on, respectively, weak, median, and strong assumptions about eligibility (see Section III.6 of "The Madagascar 2022 Micro Enterprise Survey Implementation Report"). The variable strata corresponds to the stratum of each observation.

Additionally, the MES datafiles contain many standard variables. The variable d1a2_v4 denotes the main activity of the establishment, as obtained during the WBES interview, coded in the four-digit ISIC Rev. 4. Users should note that this activity may differ from the industry classification given in the Sampling Frame, a4a. Users are generally advised to use industry categories based on the realized information in d1a2_v4. Additional sampling information is contained in variables a2 (region) and a6a (size). The variable panel identifies panel establishments, there are no panel establishments in Madagascar 2022. The combination of a4a, a2, a6a, and panel forms stratum of each establishment, which is contained in variable strata.

The last complete fiscal year for each establishment is contained in variables a20m (last month of last complete fiscal year) and a20y (last complete fiscal year).

Note that when an entry in the MES database is empty, this means that the question was not asked to the corresponding respondent. This happens when the question is deemed inapplicable, due to skip patterns or other reasons. In cases when the question was posed, some entry is provided, including don't know, which is an example of item non-response.