About
The ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Study (LiK Study) is a research-based, open access, multi-topic longitudinal survey of households and individuals in Kyrgyzstan. It tracks the same 3,000 households and 8,000 individuals over time in all seven Kyrgyz regions (oblasts) and the two cities of Bishkek and Osh. The data are representative nationally and at the regional level (East, West, North, South).
The survey interviews all adult household members about household demographics, assets, expenditure, migration, employment, agricultural markets, shocks, social networks, subjective well-being, and many other topics. Some of these topics are addressed in each wave while other topics are only addressed in selected waves. All members of the households in 2010 are tracked for each wave and new household members are added to the survey and tracked as well.
The survey was first conducted in 2010 and it has been repeated five times in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2019. The last, sixth, wave of the LiK Study was conducted during November 2019-February 2020.
History of the LiK Study
The LiK Study was established by Professor Tilman Brück as a project funded by the German Volkswagen Foundation from 2010 till 2012. The project included several institutions in Central Asia and Europe with the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) as the consortium leader.
In the period 2013-2015, Wave 4 was funded by DFID and IZA as a part of the Growth and Labour Market-Low Income Country (GLM-LIC) Programme. The consortium included the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) as the lead institution, the University of Central Asia (UCA) as the main Kyrgyz partner, and several research institutions from Asia, Europe, and North America. Since then, the study has been hosted by the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ) for Waves 5 and 6 and has received funding from UN-FAO, IFPRI and, internally, from IGZ and UCA.
The first five waves of the LiK survey were collected by the company Sotseconik; the sixth wave was collected by the survey company SIAR Consult. Both companies are long-established and reputable companies providing services in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries.
Data Access
The Life in Kyrgyzstan Study data is openly available: it can be used by any interested party for non-for-profit research, policy analysis and teaching purposes. The survey questionnaires and interviewer manuals can be downloaded here or on the project web site.
The LiK Study data for all six waves (2010-2013, 2016, 2019) is available for research and teaching purposes from IZA’s International Data Service Center (IDSC). The dedicated platform contains the data, questionnaires, and the list of publications. The data are made available after registration of the users and signing a data use contract. The LiK data access link is idsc.iza.org/lik.
Annual Life in Kyrgyzstan Conference
Starting 2015, the LiK Study is complemented by an academic conference that takes place around October each year in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The conferences include invited plenary talks and topical sessions on variety of topics with a significant part of the research conducted using the LiK data. The conference brings together national and international experts from academic and research institutions, development agencies, government and the public sector, and non-governmental organizations to exchange knowledge and experiences on recent socio-economic developments in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, and to promote evidence-based policy making.
Advisory Board
• Dr Kamiljon Akramov, International Food Policy Research Institute, USA.
• Professor Kathryn Anderson (Chair of the Board), Vanderbilt University, USA.
• Professor Armando Barrientos, Manchester University, UK.
• Professor Charles Becker, Duke University, USA.
• Dr Michelle Brock, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, UK.
• Dr Gero Carletto, Manager, Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS), Center for Development Data, World Bank, Italy.
• Professor Thomas Herzfeld, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Germany.
• Professor Klara Sabirianova Peter, Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS). University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, USA.
• Dr Susan Steiner, Hannover University and rsquared, Germany.
• Professor Nurgul Ukueva (Deputy Chair), American University Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan.
Contact the Life in Kyrgyzstan Study team
You can reach us by email lifeinkyrgyzstan[at]gmail.com. Or follow the LiK Study on Twitter via @LiK_Study.