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The Sensitivity of Economic Statistics to Coding Errors in Personal Identifiers

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  • John M. Abowd
  • Lars Vilhuber

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the sensitivity of small-cell flow statistics to coding errors in the identity of the underlying entities. Specifically, we present results based on a comparison of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) before and after correcting for such errors in SSN-based identifiers in the underlying individual wage records. The correction used involves a novel application of existing statistical matching techniques. It is found that even a very conservative correction procedure has a sizable impact on the statistics. The average bias ranges from 0.25 percent up to 15 percent for flow statistics, and up to 5 percent for payroll aggregates.

Suggested Citation

  • John M. Abowd & Lars Vilhuber, 2002. "The Sensitivity of Economic Statistics to Coding Errors in Personal Identifiers," Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Technical Papers 2002-17, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, revised Mar 2003.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:tpaper:2002-17
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. John M. Abowd & Paul A. Lengermann & Lars Vilhuber, 2002. "The Creation of the Employment Dynamics Estimates," Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Technical Papers 2002-13, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
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