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PINstimation vs states

A side-by-side editorial comparison of PINstimation and states — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

PINstimation vs states: at a glance

FeaturePINstimationstates
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesmarket-microstructure, finance, informed-trading, r-packagepolitical-science, panel-data, country-codes, datasets
Last editorial update1h ago52m ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is PINstimation?

A market-microstructure toolkit that keeps adding estimators as the papers land.

PINstimation estimates probability-of-informed-trading models — PIN, multilayer PIN, adjusted PIN and VPIN — from trade and quote data, and handles the trade classification and aggregation that feeds them. The current 0.2.0 adds ivpin(), a maximum-likelihood variant of VPIN from Ke and Lin (2017). The package's early history is compressed into a single hour of backfilled tags in October 2022, so version order there does not track release order.

Read the full PINstimation trajectory →

What is states?

State-panel tooling holding steady since its 2020 data and ergonomics release.

states supplies the Gleditsch & Ward and Correlates of War state lists and the tooling to turn them into country-year or country-month panels, with plot_missing() for coverage checks. The substantive work landed in 2020; the releases since are compatibility fixes against ggplot2, dplyr, readr and testthat. The most recent entry is a single test repair.

Read the full states trajectory →

PINstimation vs states: editorial side-by-side

P
PINstimation
INFRA · APIS
0.0

A market-microstructure toolkit that keeps adding estimators as the papers land.

◆ Current state

PINstimation estimates probability-of-informed-trading models — PIN, multilayer PIN, adjusted PIN and VPIN — from trade and quote data, and handles the trade classification and aggregation that feeds them. The current 0.2.0 adds ivpin(), a maximum-likelihood variant of VPIN from Ke and Lin (2017). The package's early history is compressed into a single hour of backfilled tags in October 2022, so version order there does not track release order.

◆ Where it's heading

Each release tracks the literature: a Bayesian PIN estimator from Griffin et al., an improved VPIN from Ke and Lin, initial-parameter generation realigned to Ersan and Ghachem. The other steady thread is data handling — matrix inputs so the estimators compose with rolling windows, user-specified aggregation frequencies, and now quote leads as well as lags. The three-year gap between 0.1.2 and 0.2.0 makes this a slow, publication-paced package rather than an actively developed one.

◆ Prediction

On this pattern the next release adds whatever estimator the authors publish next, since two of the three feature releases here implement a specific paper. Nothing in the entries points to a change in the package's structure.

S
states
INFRA · APIS
0.0

State-panel tooling holding steady since its 2020 data and ergonomics release.

◆ Current state

states supplies the Gleditsch & Ward and Correlates of War state lists and the tooling to turn them into country-year or country-month panels, with plot_missing() for coverage checks. The substantive work landed in 2020; the releases since are compatibility fixes against ggplot2, dplyr, readr and testthat. The most recent entry is a single test repair.

◆ Where it's heading

The package has reached the point where its own data and API are settled and the release trigger is upstream churn in the tidyverse. What movement there is goes toward making the two state lists interchangeable, with the microstates coding carried from G&W onto the COW data as the clearest example, rather than toward new datasets.

◆ Prediction

The next release is most likely another compatibility pass; a data refresh would be the signal that the package is active again.

Alternatives to PINstimation and states

Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either PINstimation or states.

See all PINstimation alternatives → · See all states alternatives →

Recent activity from PINstimation and states

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 8mo agoPINstimationPINstimation 0.2.0
  2. 0y agostatesplot_missing() test fixed for the next ggplot2
  3. 2y agostatesggplot2 and dplyr deprecation cleanup
  4. 2y agostatesBundled state data stripped to plain data frames
  5. 3y agoPINstimationPINstimation v0.1.2
  6. 3y agoPINstimationPINstimation v0.1.1
  7. 3y agoPINstimationPINstimation v0.0.1-beta
  8. 3y agoPINstimationPINstimation v0.1.0
  9. 5y agostatesMicrostate coding for COW data and state_panel() shortcuts
  10. 7y agostatesSimpler defaults for state_panel() and plot_missing()

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between PINstimation and states?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. PINstimation and states are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is PINstimation better than states?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. PINstimation and states are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to PINstimation?

Top PINstimation alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "PINstimation alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/pinstimation for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to states?

Top states alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "states alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/states for the full list with editorial commentary on each.