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Who misreports welfare receipt in surveys?

Author

Listed:
  • Kerstin Bruckmeier
  • Gerrit M�ller
  • Regina T. Riphahn

Abstract

We match survey and administrative data and determine the extent of misreporting on welfare receipt. In our data, 10.5% of German welfare recipients under-report and 1% over-report benefit receipt. The analysis shows that particularly households who are close to the labour market, without children, and with relatively high household incomes and savings are prone to under-report their welfare receipt. This information is important for the study of transfer programmes based on survey data.

Suggested Citation

  • Kerstin Bruckmeier & Gerrit M�ller & Regina T. Riphahn, 2014. "Who misreports welfare receipt in surveys?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(12), pages 812-816, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:21:y:2014:i:12:p:812-816
    DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2013.877566
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bruce Meyer & Robert Goerge, 2011. "Errors in Survey Reporting and Imputation and Their Effects on Estimates of Food Stamp Program Participation," Working Papers 11-14, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Bruce D. Meyer & Wallace K. C. Mok & James X. Sullivan, 2009. "The Under-Reporting of Transfers in Household Surveys: Its Nature and Consequences," NBER Working Papers 15181, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Bollinger, Christopher R & David, Martin H, 2001. "Estimation with Response Error and Nonresponse: Food-Stamp Participation in the SIPP," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 19(2), pages 129-141, April.
    4. Trappmann, Mark & Beste, Jonas & Bethmann, Arne & Müller, Gerrit, 2013. "The PASS panel survey after six waves," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 46(4), pages 275-281.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kerstin Bruckmeier & Katrin Hohmeyer & Stefan Schwarz, 2018. "Welfare receipt misreporting in survey data and its consequences for state dependence estimates: new insights from linked administrative and survey data," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 52(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. repec:iab:iabfda:201707(de is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Berg, Marco & Cramer, Ralph & Dickmann, Christian & Gilberg, Reiner & Jesske, Birgit & Kleudgen, Martin & Beste, Jonas & Dummert, Sandra & Frodermann, Corinna & Schwarz, Stefan & Trappmann, Mark & Bäh, 2020. "Codebook and documentation of the Panel Study 'Labour Market and Social Security' (PASS) : Datenreport Wave 12," FDZ Datenreport. Documentation on Labour Market Data 201909_en, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    4. Hetschko, Clemens & Schöb, Ronnie & Wolf, Tobias, 2020. "Income support, employment transitions and well-being," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Umut Oguzoglu & Cain Polidano & Ha Vu, 2020. "Impacts from Delaying Access to Retirement Benefits on Welfare Receipt and Expenditure: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 96(312), pages 65-86, March.
    6. repec:iab:iabfda:202012(de is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Berg, Marco & Cramer, Ralph & Dickmann, Christian & Gilberg, Reiner & Jesske, Birgit & Kleudgen, Martin & Beste, Jonas & Dummert, Sandra & Frodermann, Corinna & Fuchs, Benjamin & Schwarz, Stefan & Tra, 2018. "Codebuch und Dokumentation des Panel 'Arbeitsmarkt und soziale Sicherung' (PASS) : Datenreport Welle 11," FDZ Datenreport. Documentation on Labour Market Data 201806_de, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    8. Wolf, Tobias & Hetschko, Clemens & Schöb, Ronnie, 2016. "Income Support, (Un-)Employment and Well-Being," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145860, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. repec:iab:iabfda:202012(en is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Bruckmeier, Kerstin & Riphahn, Regina T. & Wiemers, Jürgen, 2019. "Benefit underreporting in survey data and its consequences for measuring non-take-up: new evidence from linked administrative and survey data," IAB-Discussion Paper 201906, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    11. Berg, Marco & Cramer, Ralph & Dickmann, Christian & Gilberg, Reiner & Jesske, Birgit & Kleudgen, Martin & Beste, Jonas & Dummert, Sandra & Frodermann, Corinna & Schwarz, Stefan & Trappmann, Mark & Bäh, 2020. "Codebuch und Dokumentation des Panel 'Arbeitsmarkt und soziale Sicherung' (PASS) : Datenreport Welle 13," FDZ Datenreport. Documentation on Labour Market Data 202012_de, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    12. repec:iab:iabfda:201806(de is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Jäckle, Annette & Johannes, Eggs, 2014. "Dependent interviewing and sub-optimal responding," ISER Working Paper Series 2014-32, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    14. Bruckmeier, Kerstin & Müller, Gerrit & Riphahn, Regina T., 2015. "Survey misreporting of welfare receipt—Respondent, interviewer, and interview characteristics," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 103-107.
    15. Villatoro S., Pablo & Cecchini, Simone & Mancero, Xavier, 2021. "The impact of non-contributory cash transfers on poverty in Latin America," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    16. Berg, Marco & Cramer, Ralph & Dickmann, Christian & Gilberg, Reiner & Jesske, Birgit & Kleudgen, Martin & Beste, Jonas & Dummert, Sandra & Frodermann, Corinna & Fuchs, Benjamin & Schwarz, Stefan & Tra, 2017. "Codebuch und Dokumentation des Panel 'Arbeitsmarkt und soziale Sicherung' (PASS) : Datenreport Welle 10," FDZ Datenreport. Documentation on Labour Market Data 201707_de, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    17. Berg, Marco & Cramer, Ralph & Dickmann, Christian & Gilberg, Reiner & Jesske, Birgit & Kleudgen, Martin & Beste, Jonas & Dummert, Sandra & Frodermann, Corinna & Schwarz, Stefan & Trappmann, Mark & Bäh, 2021. "Codebook and Documentation of the Panel Study "Labour Market and Social Security" (PASS) : Datenreport Wave 13," FDZ Datenreport. Documentation on Labour Market Data 202012_en, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    18. Wolf, Tobias, 2020. "Welfare while working: How does the life satisfaction approach help to explain job search behavior?," Discussion Papers 2020/14, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    19. Celhay, Pablo & Meyer, Bruce D. & Mittag, Nikolas, 2024. "What leads to measurement errors? Evidence from reports of program participation in three surveys," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 238(2).
    20. Berg, Marco & Cramer, Ralph & Dickmann, Christian & Gilberg, Reiner & Jesske, Birgit & Kleudgen, Martin & Beste, Jonas & Dummert, Sandra & Frodermann, Corinna & Schwarz, Stefan & Trappmann, Mark & Bäh, 2019. "Codebuch und Dokumentation des Panel 'Arbeitsmarkt und soziale Sicherung' (PASS) : Datenreport Welle 12," FDZ Datenreport. Documentation on Labour Market Data 201909_de, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    21. Teresa Backhaus & Kai-Uwe Müller, 2019. "Does the German Minimum Wage Help Low Income Households?: Evidence from Observed Outcomes and the Simulation of Potential Effects," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1805, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    22. Antoni Manfred & Bethmann Arne, 2019. "PASS-ADIAB – Linked Survey and Administrative Data for Research on Unemployment and Poverty," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(4), pages 747-756, August.
    23. repec:iab:iabfda:201909(en is not listed on IDEAS
    24. repec:iab:iabfda:201909(de is not listed on IDEAS

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