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WRDS (Wharton Research Data Services)

Information on the WRDS data management system

About WRDS

WRDS (Wharton Research Data Services) is the de facto standard for business data, providing researchers worldwide with instant access to financial, economic, and marketing data though a uniform, web-based interface. This hosted data service (from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania) has become the locus for quantitative data research and is recognized by the academic and financial research community around the world as the leading business intelligence tool.

Access is limited, and you must register for a free account to use WRDS. Access is provided by individual username and password. This may not be shared with any other individual.

Choose a WRDS Account Type

All current faculty, staff, and students at OSU are eligible for web access to WRDS. Individual accounts (Faculty, Ph.D., Research Assistant, Staff and Visitor), which allow SSH access, may be provided at the discretion of the university’s WRDS Representative.

NOT ELIGIBLE FOR A WRDS ACCOUNT:

  1. Alumni members of the community.
  2. Research colleagues outside the university and co‐authors.
  3. Other persons not actively employed or registered with the university.

 Please contact the OSU Libraries' primary contact for the College of Business (Diana Castillo) with any questions.

 

Which account is right for you?

Faculty
Faculty accounts are available to all standing permanent faculty of member institutions. These accounts have a default expiration date of 5 years which can be renewed.

Ph.D. Students
Ph.D. accounts are available to all current Ph.D. candidates of member institutions. Ph.D. accounts have a default expiration date of 2 years and may be renewed if needed.

Research Assistant
Research accounts are available to graduate and undergraduate students performing research for a faculty member. A standing faculty member may have one research assistant. RA accounts have a default expiration date of 2 years.

Staff
Staff accounts can only be requested by support personnel such as librarians and IT support staff of member institutions

Visitor
Visitor accounts are available to visiting faculty (non-permanent or part-time position, or those on a limited appointment). These accounts are subject to additional review and may not be used after the visiting appointment ends.

Please note: Lecturers are not eligible for faculty accounts but may apply for a visitor account.

Masters Students
Masters accounts are available to full-time masters students of member institutions. Masters accounts have a default expiration date of 2 years. These accounts expire at the end of the semester. Masters students will not have access to WRDS following the end of your institution's academic year. Access will be provided at the start of the new academic year.

Class
Class accounts may be requested ONLY by standing faculty of member institutions. These accounts are primarily for student usage that is associated with a specific class and all students in the class share the same password. Class accounts can accommodate up to 15 simultaneous users. These accounts expire at the end of the semester. Class accounts need to be set up by the Professor, approved by the WRDS Representative, and not be carried over for the next semester's class.

For more detail about these accounts, see Account Types on WRDS

Obtaining a WRDS Account

Step 1:  Point your web browser to <http://wrds-web.wharton.upenn.edu>

Step 2:  Select the Register tab or link “Register for a WRDS Account.” 

Step 3:  Complete the Account Request form. 

Kinds of Data included in WRDS

Company Financials: Financial Statements: BS, IS and CF Data Items;Industry-Specific, Segment, and Pension Data;Point In Time Accounting Data;Index Fundamentals and Constituents;Audit and Regulatory Filings Data;Banks

Financial Markets, Prices, and Returns: Stock Prices; Intraday Trades and Quotes;Market Indices and Factors;Bonds and Fixed Income Data;Mutual Fund/Hedge Fund Returns;Derivatives/Options; REITs; FX Currencies; Corporate Governance and Ownership Data;Company Management and Executive Compensation;Board of Directors, Governance Provisions and Voting Data;Social Responsibility;Insiders and Blockholders Ownership;Mutual Fund Ownership;13F Institutional Ownership

Earnings Forecasts and Ratings: Analyst Forecasts and Recommendations;Company, Issues, and Bond Ratings

Mergers & Acquisitions

Economics Data

Marketing Data

Sources of Data in WRDS

WRDS is a data management program that provides access to the following sources:

  • AuditAnalytics
  • Bank Regulatory
  • Blockholders
  • CBOE Indexes
  • COMPUSTAT
  • CRSP
  • CUSIP
  • DMEF Academic Data
  • Dow Jones
  • Fama French & Liquidity Factors
  • Federal Reserve Bank
  • IBES
  • KLD
  • PHLX
  • Penn World Tables
  • SEC Order Execution
  • TRACE
  • Thomson Reuters

 If further assistance is needed please contact Heather Pesch with the College of Business or Diana Castillo & Ian Scofield with the OSU Libraries. 

You may also contact research specialists through WRDS Support.

Recommended for New Users

View the following information pages available on the WRDS website:

  1.  WRDS FAQs
  2.  3 Ways to Use WRDS

Review the Support and Tools tabs, offering a host of resources including, but not limited to:

  1. Getting Started with WRDS
  2. Research Applications and Sample Programs
  3. Computing Resources