interest in panel data include for every entity ?

[Adam Klaas]

Hello everyone i have a panel data set of cities from 2000-2020, I was wondering since interest is the same each year for the whole country should I use VLOOKUP to have the value of interest for each municipality per year? Or should I just make 2 tables with the years and interest values without attaching the value for each municipality per year? I have the same question regarding construction costs.

* Example generated by -dataex-. For more info, type help dataex
clear
input double Interest str29 GM_naam long Constructioncosts double CPI_index
     5.405 "'s-Gravenhage"         .                100
4.95833333 "'s-Gravenhage"         .              102.4
      4.89 "'s-Gravenhage"         .           106.5984
     4.095 "'s-Gravenhage"         . 110.11614719999999
     4.095 "'s-Gravenhage"         . 112.42858629119998
3.37416667 "'s-Gravenhage"         . 113.89015791298557
3.78083333 "'s-Gravenhage"         . 115.82629059750631
4.28666667 "'s-Gravenhage"         . 117.10037979407888
4.22666667 "'s-Gravenhage"         . 118.97398587078413
3.68666667 "'s-Gravenhage"         . 121.94833551755373
2.99166667 "'s-Gravenhage"         . 123.41171554376437
2.98916667 "'s-Gravenhage"         . 125.01606784583329
1.93416667 "'s-Gravenhage"    120000 127.89143740628745
1.96083333 "'s-Gravenhage"    116000 131.08872334144462
     1.455 "'s-Gravenhage"    107500 134.36594142498072
 .69083333 "'s-Gravenhage"    106500 135.70960083923052
     .2925 "'s-Gravenhage"    113500  136.5238584442659
     .5225 "'s-Gravenhage"    118000  136.9334300195987
 .57666667 "'s-Gravenhage"    132000 138.85049803987306
      -.07 "'s-Gravenhage"    140500  141.2109565065509
 -.3766667 "'s-Gravenhage"    148000  144.8824413757212
     5.405 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      .                100
4.95833333 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      .              102.4
      4.89 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      .           106.5984
     4.095 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      . 110.11614719999999
     4.095 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      . 112.42858629119998
3.37416667 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      . 113.89015791298557
3.78083333 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      . 115.82629059750631
4.28666667 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      . 117.10037979407888
4.22666667 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      . 118.97398587078413
3.68666667 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      . 121.94833551755373
2.99166667 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      . 123.41171554376437
2.98916667 "'s-Hertogenbosch"      . 125.01606784583329
1.93416667 "'s-Hertogenbosch" 120000 127.89143740628745
1.96083333 "'s-Hertogenbosch" 116000 131.08872334144462
     1.455 "'s-Hertogenbosch" 107500 134.36594142498072
 .69083333 "'s-Hertogenbosch" 106500 135.70960083923052
     .2925 "'s-Hertogenbosch" 113500  136.5238584442659
     .5225 "'s-Hertogenbosch" 118000  136.9334300195987
 .57666667 "'s-Hertogenbosch" 132000 138.85049803987306
      -.07 "'s-Hertogenbosch" 140500  141.2109565065509
 -.3766667 "'s-Hertogenbosch" 148000  144.8824413757212
     5.405 "Aa en Hunze"           .                100
4.95833333 "Aa en Hunze"           .              102.4
      4.89 "Aa en Hunze"           .           106.5984
     4.095 "Aa en Hunze"           . 110.11614719999999
     4.095 "Aa en Hunze"           . 112.42858629119998
3.37416667 "Aa en Hunze"           . 113.89015791298557
3.78083333 "Aa en Hunze"           . 115.82629059750631
4.28666667 "Aa en Hunze"           . 117.10037979407888
4.22666667 "Aa en Hunze"           . 118.97398587078413
3.68666667 "Aa en Hunze"           . 121.94833551755373
2.99166667 "Aa en Hunze"           . 123.41171554376437
2.98916667 "Aa en Hunze"           . 125.01606784583329
1.93416667 "Aa en Hunze"      120000 127.89143740628745
1.96083333 "Aa en Hunze"      116000 131.08872334144462
     1.455 "Aa en Hunze"      107500 134.36594142498072
 .69083333 "Aa en Hunze"      106500 135.70960083923052
     .2925 "Aa en Hunze"      113500  136.5238584442659
     .5225 "Aa en Hunze"      118000  136.9334300195987
 .57666667 "Aa en Hunze"      132000 138.85049803987306
      -.07 "Aa en Hunze"      140500  141.2109565065509
 -.3766667 "Aa en Hunze"      148000  144.8824413757212
     5.405 "Aalsmeer"              .                100
4.95833333 "Aalsmeer"              .              102.4
      4.89 "Aalsmeer"              .           106.5984
     4.095 "Aalsmeer"              . 110.11614719999999
     4.095 "Aalsmeer"              . 112.42858629119998
3.37416667 "Aalsmeer"              . 113.89015791298557
3.78083333 "Aalsmeer"              . 115.82629059750631
4.28666667 "Aalsmeer"              . 117.10037979407888
4.22666667 "Aalsmeer"              . 118.97398587078413
3.68666667 "Aalsmeer"              . 121.94833551755373
2.99166667 "Aalsmeer"              . 123.41171554376437
2.98916667 "Aalsmeer"              . 125.01606784583329
1.93416667 "Aalsmeer"         120000 127.89143740628745
1.96083333 "Aalsmeer"         116000 131.08872334144462
     1.455 "Aalsmeer"         107500 134.36594142498072
 .69083333 "Aalsmeer"         106500 135.70960083923052
     .2925 "Aalsmeer"         113500  136.5238584442659
     .5225 "Aalsmeer"         118000  136.9334300195987
 .57666667 "Aalsmeer"         132000 138.85049803987306
      -.07 "Aalsmeer"         140500  141.2109565065509
 -.3766667 "Aalsmeer"         148000  144.8824413757212
     5.405 "Aalten"                .                100
4.95833333 "Aalten"                .              102.4
      4.89 "Aalten"                .           106.5984
     4.095 "Aalten"                . 110.11614719999999
     4.095 "Aalten"                . 112.42858629119998
3.37416667 "Aalten"                . 113.89015791298557
3.78083333 "Aalten"                . 115.82629059750631
4.28666667 "Aalten"                . 117.10037979407888
4.22666667 "Aalten"                . 118.97398587078413
3.68666667 "Aalten"                . 121.94833551755373
2.99166667 "Aalten"                . 123.41171554376437
2.98916667 "Aalten"                . 125.01606784583329
1.93416667 "Aalten"           120000 127.89143740628745
1.96083333 "Aalten"           116000 131.08872334144462
     1.455 "Aalten"           107500 134.36594142498072
 .69083333 "Aalten"           106500 135.70960083923052
end

[Carlo Lazzaro]

Adam:
1) as far as I know -VLOOKUP- is a function of one of the most widespread spreadsheet (but you cannot find it in Stata);
2) the answers to your questions heavily depend on the your research goal.