La calidad de la EPA en la estimación de transiciones en el mercado de trabajo

This article analyses the implications of sample deterioration in the study on the labour market transitions and, additionally, the implicit mistakes of classification in retrospective questions. In either case the analysis is carried out with data from the Labour Force Survey (EPA). With respect to the first objective, although it has become clear that the non-response cannot be ignored, there is little evidence of the fact that sample deterioration, as a rule, causes important selection problems. Even so, some selection problems in extreme age ranges have been detected. Reference to the second objective, it is clear that the retrospective information contains systematical errors. However, both the small magnitude of such errors and their diminishing importance sustain the use of retrospective information for the study of transitions in the labour market.