The study titled ‘life in Kyrgyzstan’ is a research-based, open access, longitudinal survey of households and individuals in Kyrgyzstan. The survey covers e.g. household demographincs, assets, expenditure, migration, employment, agricultural markets, shocks, social networks and well-being. It has been conducted in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2012 and tracks the same 3000 households and 8000 individuals over time in all seven Kyrgyz regions (oblasts) and the two cities of Bishkek and Osh.

1. The Life in Kyrgyzstan Study:
Panel Data for Socio-Economic
and Agricultural Development
Prof. Dr. Tilman Brück, IGZ/LSE
brueck@igzev.de
www.lifeinkyrgyzstan.org
Bishkek
12 July 2016

2. The Case for an Individual Panel
2010 2016
Repeated
Cross-Section
Panel
Tracking the same people enables causal analysis!
?

3. Data Sources in Kyrgyzstan
multi-topic
surveys
single-topic
surveys
open surveysprivate surveys
LiK Study
Labor Force
Survey
DHS
KIHS
MICS
project surveys
BEEPS
LiK Study reference: Brück, T., D. Esenaliev, A. Kroeger, A.
Kudebayeva, B. Mirkasimov and S. Steiner (2014): “Household
Survey Data for Research on Well-Being and Behavior in Central
Asia”. Journal of Comparative Economics, 42 (3): 819-35.

4. LiK: A Nation-Wide Panel of Individuals
• Tracking 8.160 individuals in 3.000 households in 120
communities
• Yielding over 30 million data points so far
• Stratified 2-stage random sampling from 2009 census
• Representative: national, rural/urban, North/South
• Data collection: around October–December
• So far, 4 waves from 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013
• Next wave planned for 2016
• Data and questionnaires are open access
• Research-led, open-access, independent study

5. LiK
Farming and
agricultural
markets Gender and
intra-household
bargaining
Assets,
income,
remittances
and
expenditure
Employment,
entrepreneur-
ship and
migrationDemographics,
education and
child health
Public
service
delivery
Shocks, fears
and security
perceptions
Social capital,
networks and
subjective
well-being
LiK is a Multi-Topic Survey
èHuge benefits
from connecting
these themes!
èSome
topics are
only asked
in some
years
èOption to add
new topics

6. Individuals
– subjective well-being
– education and health
– labor market
– movements
– family and household
– worries
– security and violence
– social life
– child anthropometrics
Households
– household composition
– child education and
health
– housing and assets
– agricultural markets
– consumption and
expenditures
– income
– migration
– shocks
Questionnaires

7. National Coverage

8. Unique Features of the LiK Study
1. True panel study
2. Independent, research-based survey
3. Multi-topic survey
4. Open access public good
5. Capacity building and learning tool

9. Plans for Wave 5 in October 2016
• Repeat individual, household and community
questionnaires
• Expand the agricultural module
• Start a pilot of plots for all households
• Improve child health measurement
• Main funding from FAO, IFPRI and UCA

10. Impact of the LiK Study so far
• >30 institutions worldwide use LiK data for research
• Research articles
- eg Journal of Comparative Economics, Economics of Transition
• 4 international conferences in Berlin and Bishkek
• 2 summer schools in Issyk-Kul in 2014 and 2015
• Policy advice for ministries, donors, NGOs etc.
• Foundation for additional large research projects
- on social cohesion and peace-building in Southern Kyrgyzstan

11. First Annual LiK Conference
Bishkek, 1-2 October 2015
Second Annual LiK Conference
Bishkek, 6-7 October 2015

12. Some data from the LiK Study

13. Wide-Spread Land Ownership1
13
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Issyk-Kul Jalal-Abad Naryn Batken Osh Talas Chui Bishkek Osh city
Share of HHs that own land, %
Source: LiK 2011

14. Large Garden Plots in some Areas1
14
Source: LiK 2011
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
0.45
0.50
Issyk-Kul Jalal-Abad Naryn Batken Osh Talas Chui Bishkek Osh city
Average size of next-to-house land
(if owning such land), ha

15. Changes in Child Nutrition over Time
Aladysheva and Brück: work in progress
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
2010 2011 2012 2013
Moderately malnourished Severely malnourished
WHO: Weight-for-height describes current nutri5onal status. A child who is more than two standard
devia5ons below (-2 SD) the reference median for weight-for-height is considered too thin for his or her
height, or wasted. As with stun5ng, was5ng is considered severe if the child is more than three standard
devia5ons below the reference median. Was5ng reflects acute or recent nutri5onal deficit. Severe was5ng
is closely linked to mortality risk.

16. Conflict-affected Children are too Thin
12.71
22.03
27.12
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
%
Wasting per region, age 0-5, boys and girls
Aladysheva and Brück: work in progress

17. Few Welfare Gains from Smallholder Exports
17
Soms per month Total Domestic Export Difference
Agricultural income 7,055 6,356 8,480 2,124***
Household income 15,332 15,019 15,969 950
Household consumption 9,313 9,438 9,059 -378
Asset index, mean is 100 100.0 104.0 91.9 -12.1
The significant differences using t-tests are indicated by * p<0.1, ** p<0.05, *** p<0.01.
Esenaliev and Teichmann: work in progress

18. Acknowledgements
With thanks to my collaborators:
– Anastasia Aladysheva
– Ghassan Baliki
– Damir Esenaliev
– Neil Ferguson
– Roman Mogilevskii
– Kanat Tilekeyev
And to our donors:
– Volkswagen Foundation
– DFID/IZA
– FAO
– IFPRI
– UCA
For further information, please see:
– www.lifeinkyrgyzstan.org