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Comparing sample survey measures of English earnings of graduates with administrative data during the Great Recession

Author

Listed:
  • Jack Britton

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies)

  • Neil Shephard

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Harvard University)

  • Anna Vignoles

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University of Cambridge)

Abstract

This paper compares survey based labour earnings data for English graduates, taken from the UK’s Labour Force Survey (LFS), with the UK Government administrative sources of o?cial individual level earnings data. This type of administrative data has few sample selection issues, is substantially longitudinal and its large samples mean the earnings of subpopulations can be potentially studied (e.g. those who study a speci?c subject at a speci?c university and graduate in a speci?c year). We ?nd that very broadly the LFS and administrative data show a similar distribution of graduates’ earnings. However, the administrative data has considerably less gender disparity, higher high quantiles and more time series persistence. We also report on how the distribution of graduate and non-graduate earnings fell during each year of the Great Recession.

Suggested Citation

  • Jack Britton & Neil Shephard & Anna Vignoles, 2015. "Comparing sample survey measures of English earnings of graduates with administrative data during the Great Recession," IFS Working Papers W15/28, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:15/28
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Adamecz-Völgyi & Morag Henderson & Nikki Shure, 2023. "The labor market returns to “first-in-family” university graduates," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1395-1429, July.
    2. Jack Britton & Lorraine Dearden & Neil Shephard & Anna Vignoles, 2016. "How English domiciled graduate earnings vary with gender, institution attended, subject and socio-economic background," IFS Working Papers W16/06, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    3. Kristinn Hermannsson & Patrizio Lecca & J. Kim Swales, 2017. "How much does a single graduation cohort from further education colleges contribute to an open regional economy?," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 429-451, October.
    4. Pascale Bourquin & Tom Waters, 2022. "Jobs and job quality between the eve of the Great Recession and the eve of COVID‐19," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 63-78, March.
    5. Peter Ainsworth & Tom McKenzie & Al Stroyny, 2016. "Incentive Effects in Higher Education: an Improved Funding Model for Universities," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 239-257, October.
    6. Buchmueller, Gerda & Walker, Ian, 2020. "The Graduate Wage and Earnings Premia and the Role of Non-Cognitive Skills," IZA Discussion Papers 13248, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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