Dummy variable value dependent on any of the 36 values in a string variable

[Avik Mukherjee]

I am a beginner in Stata (ver 16) and need help regarding dummy variable.

There is a dummy variable in my dataset, which needs to assume the value of 1, if the auditor (either auditor_name or auditor_partner_name in the dataset) is one of the big 4 or their partners (36 in total). Needless to say, the total number of auditors is very high.

The following is a sample of my dataset.

Thank you in advance.

Warm regards,

Avik

* Example generated by -dataex-. To install: ssc install dataex
clear
co_code company_name                                  aud_date auditor_name              auditor_partner_name          year
57531 "DEEPAM HOSPITAL PVT. LTD."                       19448 "PARAMESWARAN&ASSOCIATES"  "VPARAMESWARAN"              2013
70661 "APIS INDIA LTD."                                 20544 "SUDHIRAGARWAL&ASSOCIATES" "SUDHIRKUMARAGARWAL"         2016
108826 "JAYPEE CAPITAL SERVICES LTD."                    18717 "RANJANAVANDANA&CO."       "NA"                         2011
146443 "MINDARIKA PVT. LTD."                             20909 "DELOITTEHASKINS&SELLSLLP" "DEEPAKROY"                  2017
153254 "NAFISA TRADING CO. LTD."                         14700 "GKTULSYAN&CO."            "NA"                         2000
173558 "SHRISTI INFRASTRUCTURE DEVP. CORPN. LTD."        19813 "SSKOTHARI&CO."            "RNBARDHAN"                  2014
175005 "PHOENIX INDUSTRIES LTD. (1993)"                  20909 "JLBHATT&CO."              "YOGESHJBHATT"               2017
210444 "SANGAL PAPERS LTD."                              19448 "SHIAM&CO."                "RAJESHKUMARJAIN"            2013
220439 "SHIKHAR CONSULTANTS LTD."                        21274 "RDB&ASSOCIATES"           "ANIKETBALDAWA"              2018
221189 "SHIVA INDUSTRIAL SECURITY AGENCY (GUJARAT) LTD." 17622 "HBDESAI&ASSOCIATES"       "HBDESAI"                    2008
223320 "SHREE RAJASTHAN SYNTEX LTD."                     15430 "MCBHANDARI&CO."           "NA"                         2002
240602 "SUNITA COMMERCIALS PVT. LTD."                    18717 "MITTAL&ASSOCIATES"        "MMEHTA"                     2011
290297 "ENERGYLINK (INDIA) LTD."                         17987 "KISHANMMEHTA&CO."         "NA"                         2009
379538 "MAN PROJECTS LTD."                               19448 "SHAPARIA&MEHTA"           "SANJIVBMEHTA"               2013
385659 "ZEE DIGITAL CONVERGENCE LTD."                    19448 "SUBHASHCGUPTA&CO."        "SUBHASHCGUPTA"              2013
407949 "IMATEK SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. [MERGED]"             16891 "UKG&ASSOCIATES"           "CHAMPAKKDEDHIA"             2006
437740 "KIMIYA ENGINEERS PVT. LTD."                      20544 "SHARADJOSHI&CO."          "SHARADCHANDRASADASHIVJOSHI" 2016
467753 "SIDERFORGEROSSI INDIA PVT. LTD."                 17256 "BSRAVIKUMAR&ASSOCIATES"   "BSRAVIKUMAR"                2007
547355 "TAG ECO RECYCLING INDIA PVT. LTD."               20544 "SBP&ASSOCIATES"           "JAINPANKAJKIRAN"            2016
557763 "U E I GLOBAL EDUCATION PVT. LTD."                17987 "MGB&CO.LLP"               "LKSHRISHRIMAL"              2009
end
format %tdnn/dd/CCYY auditing_date

[Nick Cox]

You'll have to forgive my ignorance here is not knowing which are the top 4, etc. But here is a recipe that you may able to adapt.

 sysuse auto, clear
(1978 Automobile Data)

.
. gen wanted = inlist(make, make[1], make[2], make[3], make[4])

.
. tab make wanted

                   |        wanted
    Make and Model |         0          1 |     Total
-------------------+----------------------+----------
       AMC Concord |         0          1 |         1
         AMC Pacer |         0          1 |         1
        AMC Spirit |         0          1 |         1
         Audi 5000 |         1          0 |         1
          Audi Fox |         1          0 |         1
          BMW 320i |         1          0 |         1
     Buick Century |         0          1 |         1
     Buick Electra |         1          0 |         1
     Buick LeSabre |         1          0 |         1
        Buick Opel |         1          0 |         1
       Buick Regal |         1          0 |         1
     Buick Riviera |         1          0 |         1
     Buick Skylark |         1          0 |         1
      Cad. Deville |         1          0 |         1
     Cad. Eldorado |         1          0 |         1
      Cad. Seville |         1          0 |         1
    Chev. Chevette |         1          0 |         1
      Chev. Impala |         1          0 |         1
      Chev. Malibu |         1          0 |         1
 Chev. Monte Carlo |         1          0 |         1
       Chev. Monza |         1          0 |         1
        Chev. Nova |         1          0 |         1
        Datsun 200 |         1          0 |         1
        Datsun 210 |         1          0 |         1
        Datsun 510 |         1          0 |         1
        Datsun 810 |         1          0 |         1
        Dodge Colt |         1          0 |         1
    Dodge Diplomat |         1          0 |         1
      Dodge Magnum |         1          0 |         1
   Dodge St. Regis |         1          0 |         1
       Fiat Strada |         1          0 |         1
       Ford Fiesta |         1          0 |         1
      Ford Mustang |         1          0 |         1
      Honda Accord |         1          0 |         1
       Honda Civic |         1          0 |         1
 Linc. Continental |         1          0 |         1
      Linc. Mark V |         1          0 |         1
  Linc. Versailles |         1          0 |         1
         Mazda GLC |         1          0 |         1
      Merc. Bobcat |         1          0 |         1
      Merc. Cougar |         1          0 |         1
     Merc. Marquis |         1          0 |         1
     Merc. Monarch |         1          0 |         1
        Merc. XR-7 |         1          0 |         1
      Merc. Zephyr |         1          0 |         1
           Olds 98 |         1          0 |         1
    Olds Cutl Supr |         1          0 |         1
      Olds Cutlass |         1          0 |         1
     Olds Delta 88 |         1          0 |         1
        Olds Omega |         1          0 |         1
     Olds Starfire |         1          0 |         1
     Olds Toronado |         1          0 |         1
       Peugeot 604 |         1          0 |         1
       Plym. Arrow |         1          0 |         1
       Plym. Champ |         1          0 |         1
     Plym. Horizon |         1          0 |         1
     Plym. Sapporo |         1          0 |         1
      Plym. Volare |         1          0 |         1
    Pont. Catalina |         1          0 |         1
    Pont. Firebird |         1          0 |         1
  Pont. Grand Prix |         1          0 |         1
     Pont. Le Mans |         1          0 |         1
     Pont. Phoenix |         1          0 |         1
     Pont. Sunbird |         1          0 |         1
    Renault Le Car |         1          0 |         1
            Subaru |         1          0 |         1
     Toyota Celica |         1          0 |         1
    Toyota Corolla |         1          0 |         1
     Toyota Corona |         1          0 |         1
         VW Dasher |         1          0 |         1
         VW Diesel |         1          0 |         1
         VW Rabbit |         1          0 |         1
       VW Scirocco |         1          0 |         1
         Volvo 260 |         1          0 |         1
-------------------+----------------------+----------
             Total |        70          4 |        74

I made the question easy for myself by just spelling out four values that define indicator (I won't say "dummy" willingly) 1 and then the others all define 0.

For your example you may need to work-around limits on the number of arguments that inlist() will take, but

inlist(foo, "a", "b", "c", "d") | inlist(foo, "x", "y", "z")

gives one kind of hint about a work-around.