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Attrition in Longitudinal Household Survey Data

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Author Info

  • Harold Alderman

    (World Bank)

  • Jere R. Behrman

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Hans-Peter Kohler

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • John A. Maluccio

    (International Food Policy Research Institute)

  • Susan Watkins

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

Longitudinal household data can have considerable advantages over much more widely used cross-sectional data for capturing dynamic demographic relationships. Because the collection of longitudinal data may be difficult and expensive, analysts need to assess the magnitude of the particular problems associated with longitudinal but not with cross-sectional data. One problem that has concerned many analysts is that sample attrition may make the interpretation of estimates problematic. Such attrition may be particularly severe in areas where there is considerable migration between rural and urban areas. Many analysts share the intuition that attrition is likely to be selective on characteristics such as schooling and thus that high attrition is likely to bias estimates. This paper considers the extent and implications of attrition for three longitudinal household surveys from Bolivia, Kenya, and South Africa that report very high per-year attrition rates between survey rounds. Our estimates indicate that: (a) the means for a number of critical outcome and family background variables differ significantly between those who are lost to follow-up and those who are re-interviewed; (b) a number of family background variables are significant predictors of attrition; but (c) nevertheless, the coefficient estimates for standard family background variables in regressions and probit equations for the majority of the outcome variables in all three data sets are not affected significantly by attrition. Therefore, attrition apparently is not a general problem for obtaining consistent estimates of the coefficients of interest for most of these outcomes. These results, which are very similar to those for developed countries, suggest that multivariate estimates of behavioral relations may not be biased due to attrition and thus support the collection of longitudinal data.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany in its journal Demographic Research.

Volume (Year): 5 (2001)
Issue (Month): 4 (November)
Pages: 79-124

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Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:5:y:2001:i:4

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Web page: http://www.demogr.mpg.de/

Related research

Keywords: attrition; developing countries; longitudinal surveys; panel data;

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References

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  1. Jeffrey E. Zabel, 1998. "An Analysis of Attrition in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Survey of Income and Program Participation with an Application to a Model of Labor Market Behavior," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(2), pages 479-506.
  2. Duncan Thomas & Elizabeth Frankenberg & James P. Smith, 2004. "Lost but Not Forgotten: Attrition and Follow-up in the Indonesia Family Life Survey," Labor and Demography 0408007, EconWPA.
  3. Jere R. Behrman & Yingmei Cheng & Petra E. Todd, 2004. "Evaluating Preschool Programs When Length of Exposure to the Program Varies: A Nonparametric Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 108-132, February.
  4. Foster, Andrew D & Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1995. "Learning by Doing and Learning from Others: Human Capital and Technical Change in Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(6), pages 1176-1209, December.
  5. Jere R. Behrman & Hans-Peter Kohler & Susan Cotts Watkins, 2001. "How can we measure the causal effects of social networks using observational data? Evidence from the diffusion of family planning and AIDS worries in South Nyanza District, Kenya," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2001-022, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
  6. Armar-Klemesu, Margaret & Ruel, Marie T. & Maxwell, Daniel G. & Levin, Carol E. & Morris, Saul Sutkover, 2000. "The constraints to good child care practices in Accra," FCND discussion papers 81, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  7. Sean Becketti & William Gould & Lee Lillard & Finis Welch, 1985. "The Panel Study of Income Dynamics After Fourteen Years: An Evaluation," UCLA Economics Working Papers 361, UCLA Department of Economics.
  8. Becketti, Sean, et al, 1988. "The Panel Study of Income Dynamics after Fourteen Years: An Evaluatio n," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(4), pages 472-92, October.
  9. John A. Maluccio, 2004. "Using Quality of Interview Information to Assess Nonrandom Attrition Bias in Developing-Country Panel Data," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 91-109, 02.
  10. Smith, J-P & Thomas, D, 1997. "Migration in Retrospect : Remembrances of Things Past," Papers 97-06, RAND - Labor and Population Program.
  11. Evangelos M. Falaris & H. Elizabeth Peters, 1998. "Survey Attrition and Schooling Choices," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(2), pages 531-554.
  12. Datt, Gaurav & Jolliffe, Dean & Sharma, Manohar, 1998. "A profile of poverty in Egypt: 1997," FCND discussion papers 49, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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