When we query Compustat for all companies, we get ~10,000 observations (only ~300 are private when we look at exchange codes of 0,1 and 3), and when we query CRSP-Compustat for all companies, we get ~5300 observations (none of which are private.)

There are approximately 14,000 publicly traded companies in US and Canada. Some of this discrepancy can be attributed to data cleaning. However, CRSP and Compustat also operate in different universes. Full details from WRDS attached. (Sorry for the terrible formatting -- I have no idea how to use my office Mac.)

In this class we do not consider OTC securities tradable, but they do represent public companies. For the purposes of this assignment you may either: (1) Remove them from your analysis, and proceed with the assignment as written; or (2) Amend your assignment to a consideration of "tradable" and "non-tradable."

Both solutions are acceptable. When making your choice and doing this assignment, it is important to consider why companies traded on major exchanges might have a different distribution of fiscal years ends than thinly traded or private companies, and you should comment on this in your write-up.