The costs of traditional primary data collection have risen dramatically over the past decade. Sharing of administrative record data between federal agencies has the potential to increase the information that is available for policy makers while saving money. Significant policy issues related to safeguarding privacy and confidentiality, as well as questions about data quality have resulted in barriers that slow down or stop record sharing. This dissertation employs two exploratory case studies to examine the creation of integrated data sets among three American government agencies, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The study found that each agency involved in sharing administrative records is governed by a different set of statutes and regulations that only partially overlap. This patchwork of laws and regulations greatly slows down the initiation of record sharing projects. There are no mature government-wide shared processes or criteria for reviewing or approving projects involving multiple agencies. The current processes are slow and burdensome and discourage initiation of new projects.