Abstract
Smartphones regularly track the precise locations of millions of people worldwide. These data are increasingly used in industry and academic settings to measure firm performance, workplace behavior, social interactions, and other metrics. We demystify this rich data source and explain how these data are constructed, how researchers can obtain access, and best practices when making inferences. Furthermore, we examine mobility data’s coverage of business locations against a popular business listing data source (Data Axle) and provide guidelines on matching mobility data to firm financials (Compustat). Finally, we provide sample data, code for illustration, and a website for data exploration ( https://www.mobilitydataresearch.com/ ) and highlight opportunities and limitations of using these data for management and strategy research.
Funding: This work was funded by the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2024.0317 .