Re: Re: re:Re: st: NEW MODULE: wbdata - World Bank Data Bases

[Christopher Baum <kit.baum@bc.edu>]

<>
On Feb 4, 2011, at 2:33 AM, Bob wrote:

>   wbdata is an ado file to convert a data set to an S+ type
> data format for using WinBUGS from Stata.   It was written by
> John Thompson at Leicester University in the UK.

I am aware of that. It is virtually inaccessible, and cannot be accessed from the authors' site via the net command.
I don't know why this routine was never available directly from the Stata Journal software site, but it wasn't. Given that,
I support JP's decision to retain the name of his routine. 

As he notes, findit turns up Thompson's routine, but the URL in that link fails. If you manually search the Leicester U site, you can find a page with instructions for downloading via the net from.. command, which the authors indicate do not work because they have placed their materials on a HTTPS server -- silly, because if you want to make stuff available to the public, why worry about secure HTTP? 

So I agree with the conclusion that wbdata.ado from Thompson is essentially inaccessible, and provides no real confusion with JP"s routine.  StataCorp should correct their -findit- database to remove the broken link.

Kit

Research Papers in Economics (RePEc)
http://repec.org




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