* Readme for Replicating "The Use and Misuse of Income Data and Extreme Poverty in the United States (Meyer, Wu, Mooers, and Medalia)

This file lists instructions for replicating all tables and figures using public-use data. These include Figures 4-7 in the main manuscript and all of the appendix tables and figures. Specific instructions:

1. Download the replication zip file, unzip its contents, and save the unzipped contents in a directory on your computer.

2. Download several publicly available datasets and place them into the "Raw Data" folder after converting into Stata format. Specific instructions for what datasets to download and from where to download them can be found in the "Instructions for Downloading Public-Use Data" file in the "Raw Data" folder. 
	
3. In the "Code" folder, open "0 Run All.do" in Stata. This contains the master code that builds all of the intermediate datasets and produces all of the publicly replicable exhibits. At the top of the file, set the global macro "path" to the file path of the directory containing the un-zipped contents of the replication file. 

4. Run "0 Run All.do". All table and figure inputs will be saved in the "Analyses" folder. Note that the "Cleaned Data" folder contains intermediate datasets that will be built from the raw data and will be used as inputs for other analyses. 

Note that Tables 3a-6 and Figures 1-3 in the main manuscript rely on restricted-use data that cannot be publicly released and code that must go through a lengthy disclosure process in order to be released. While we do not have permission to publicly share these data and programs, we will be happy to share our replication documents with anyone who can obtain approval to use the data. 

For information on accessing restricted-use data at the Census Bureau, see https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ces/data/restricted-use-data/apply-for-access.html. It will be necessary to put together a research proposal describing the data to be accessed, benefits to Census Bureau programs, etc., and guidelines for the proposal can be found at https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-surveys/center-for-economic-studies/Research_Proposal_Guidelines.pdf. Because the data used in this paper include federal tax information, the proposal will also have to meet the additional criteria set by the Internal Revenue Service (which can be found at https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-surveys/center-for-economic-studies/IRS_Criteria_Document.pdf). The data will have to be accessed either at U.S. Census Bureau Headquarters in Suitland, MD or in one of the Federal Statistical Research Data Centers located around the U.S. 
