We are pleased to announce that the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has launched the Multinational Revenue, Employment, and Investment Database (MREID). MREID provides bilateral sector-level data on multinational firm activity related to the revenues, investment, and employment of multinational firms domestic and foreign affiliates. We envision MREID will be helpful for external users and USITC staff engaged in the analysis of multinational firm activity using a gravity framework.

MREID was developed by USITC staff in conjunction with Professors Jeffrey Bergstrand (Professor of Finance in the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame) and Jordi Paniagua (Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Valencia) as part of a multi-year project through the Commission’s research services. 

The database can be downloaded from the ITC Gravity Portal at Gravity Portal: MREID | United States International Trade Commission (usitc.gov). MREID joins the other publicly available, interactive datasets available through The Gravity Portal. The Gravity Portal is a resource for researchers inside and outside the USITC to facilitate international trade research using large, downloaded datasets. It provides transparency for USITC studies that use gravity modeling; improves researchers’ access to data and analytical tools; and informs external users about USITC research products. The Gravity Modeling Environment’s curated data and computer programs estimate and simulate a variety of gravity models. 

The Gravity Portal is popular with users worldwide who log thousands of visits each month. Consistently generating accolades and feedback from users, The Gravity Portal’s datasets have been cited in more than 150 studies. 

Background

USITC staff created these innovative tools so users with varying levels of skill and time could conduct economic analysis. The datasets on The Gravity Portal also demonstrate the scale of the USITC’s analytical capabilities related to economic analysis of trade policy. The datasets do not address customizations specific to individual USITC statutory reports and, although USITC staff provide advice on how the datasets work, advice is not provided on the results generated by using them or their policy implications. Please email us at gravity@usitc.gov if you have any questions about these economic tools.