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Differences in the measurement and structure of wealth using alternative data sources: the case of the UK

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Zoë Oldfield () (Institute for Fiscal Studies)
Eva Sierminska

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Abstract

In this paper, we identify methodological differences and similarities in the measurement of wealth using survey data constructed for different purposes in the United Kingdom and England. The focus of the paper is on two prominent surveys in the UK: the English Longitudinal Survey of Ageing (ELSA) and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). We find conceptual difference in the measurement of financial assets and debt. At the same time, striking similarities exist in the measurement of non-financial assets. For the most part, many differences arise in the tails of the distributions of wealth. Comparable definitions of overall wealth in the surveys lead us to find a 10% and 3% difference in mean and conditional median of total net worth, respectively. Reassuring is the fact that inequality results carried out with the two surveys support one another and quantile regression shows that the distribution of total net worth across demographic groups is similar in the two surveys.

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Paper provided by Institute for Fiscal Studies in its series IFS Working Papers with number W07/11.

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Date of creation: Aug 2007
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Handle: RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:07/11

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  1. Juster, F. Thomas & Smith, James P. & Stafford, Frank, 1999. "The measurement and structure of household wealth," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 253-275, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Eva Sierminska & Andrea Brandolini & Timothy Smeeding, 2006. "The Luxembourg Wealth Study – A cross-country comparable database for household wealth research," Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 375-383, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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