IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/
MyIDEAS: Log in (now much improved!) to save this article

Measurement Error and Misclassification: A Comparison of Survey and Administrative Data

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Arie Kapteyn
  • Jelmer Y. Ypma

Abstract

We provide both a theoretical and empirical analysis of the relation between administrative and survey data. By distinguishing between different sources of deviations between survey and administrative data we are able to reproduce several stylized facts. We illustrate the implications of different error sources for estimation in (simple) econometric models and find potentially very substantial biases. This article shows the sensitivity of some findings in the literature for the assumption that administrative data represent the truth. In particular, the common finding of substantial mean reversion in survey data largely goes away once we allow for a richer error structure.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/513298
Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Article provided by University of Chicago Press in its journal Journal of Labor Economics.

Volume (Year): 25 (2007)
Issue (Month): ()
Pages: 513-551

as
in new window

Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:25:y:2007:p:513-551
DOI: 10.1086/513298
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JOLE/

Keywords:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

as
in new window


  1. Martha Stinson, 2002. "Estimating Measurement Error in SIPP Annual Job Earnings: A Comparison of Census Survey and SSA Administrative Data," Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Technical Papers 2002-24, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
  2. Bound, John & Krueger, Alan B, 1991. "The Extent of Measurement Error in Longitudinal Earnings Data: Do Two Wrongs Make a Right?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(1), pages 1-24, January.
  3. Klepper, Steven & Leamer, Edward E, 1984. "Consistent Sets of Estimates for Regressions with Errors in All Variables," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(1), pages 163-183, January.
  4. Johansson, Fredrik & Klevmarken, Anders, 2006. "Explaining the size and nature of response in a survey on health status and economic standard," Working Paper Series 2006:2, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
  5. Abowd, John M. & Vilhuber, Lars, 2005. "The Sensitivity of Economic Statistics to Coding Errors in Personal Identifiers," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 23, pages 133-152, April.
  6. Pischke, Jorn-Steffen, 1995. "Measurement Error and Earnings Dynamics: Some Estimates from the PSID Validation Study," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(3), pages 305-314, July.
  7. Xiaohong Chen & Han Hong & Elie Tamer, 2005. "Measurement Error Models with Auxiliary Data," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(2), pages 343-366.
  8. Duncan, Greg J & Hill, Daniel H, 1985. "An Investigation of the Extent and Consequences of Measurement Error in Labor-Economic Survey Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(4), pages 508-532, October.
  9. Bekker, Paul & Kapteyn, Arie & Wansbeek, Tom, 1987. "Consistent Sets of Estimates for Regressions with Correlated or Uncorrelated Measurement Errors in Arbitrary Subsets of All Variables," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(5), pages 1223-1230, September.
  10. Bonggeun Kim & Gary Solon, 2005. "Implications of Mean-Reverting Measurement Error for Longitudinal Studies of Wages and Employment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 193-196, February.
  11. Michael Hurd & F. Thomas Juster & James P. Smith, 2004. "Enhancing the Quality of Data on Income: Recent Developments in Survey Methodology," Labor and Demography 0412001, EconWPA.
  12. Bollinger, Christopher R, 1998. "Measurement Error in the Current Population Survey: A Nonparametric Look," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(3), pages 576-594, July.
  13. Bound, John, et al, 1994. "Evidence on the Validity of Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Labor Market Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(3), pages 345-368, July.
Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.

as
in new window


Cited by:

  1. Erik Meijer & Susann Rohwedder & Tom Wansbeek, 2008. "Prediction of Latent Variables in a Mixture of Structural Equation Models, with an Application to the Discrepancy Between Survey and Register Data," Working Papers 584, RAND Corporation.
  2. Bruce D. Meyer & Nikolas Mittag, 2015. "Using Linked Survey and Administrative Data to Better Measure Income: Implications for Poverty, Program Effectiveness and Holes in the Safety Net," Upjohn Working Papers and Journal Articles 15-242, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
  3. repec:eee:ecolet:v:155:y:2017:i:c:p:19-23 is not listed on IDEAS
  4. Paulus, Alari, 2015. "Tax evasion and measurement error: An econometric analysis of survey data linked with tax records," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-10, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
  5. Whitaker, Stephan, 2015. "Big Data versus a Survey," Working Paper 1440, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
  6. Pudney, Stephen, 2009. "Participation in disability benefit programmes: a partial identification analysis of the British Attendance Allowance system," ISER Working Paper Series 2009-19, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
  7. David Card & David S. Lee & Zhuan Pei & Andrea Weber, 2015. "Inference on Causal Effects in a Generalized Regression Kink Design," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2453-2483, November.
  8. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Stefanie Schurer, 2013. "Two Economists' Musings on the Stability of Locus of Control," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0, pages 358-400, 08.
  9. Jesse Bricker & Gary V. Engelhardt, 2007. "Measurement Error in Earnings Data in the Health and Retirement Study," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2007-16, Center for Retirement Research, revised Oct 2007.
  10. Andreasch Michael & Lindner Peter, 2016. "Micro- and Macrodata: a Comparison of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey with Financial Accounts in Austria," Journal of Official Statistics, De Gruyter Open, vol. 32(1), pages 1-28, March.
  11. John Ameriks & Andrew Caplin & Minjoon Lee & Matthew D. Shapiro & Christopher Tonetti, 2015. "The Wealth of Wealthholders," NBER Working Papers 20972, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  12. Van-Ha Le & Jakob de Haan & Erik Dietzenbacher, 2013. "Do Higher Government Wages Reduce Corruption? Evidence Based on a Novel Dataset," CESifo Working Paper Series 4254, CESifo Group Munich.
  13. Dean Hyslop & Wilbur Townsend, 2016. "Earnings Dynamics and Measurement Error in Matched Survey and Administrative Data," Working Papers 16_18, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
  14. Jeffrey A. Groen, 2011. "Seasonal Differences in Employment between Survey and Administrative Data," Working Papers 443, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  15. Dieter Vandelannoote & André Decoster & Toon Vanheukelom & Gerlinde Verbist, 2016. "Evaluating The Quality Of Gross Incomes In SILC: Compare Them With Fiscal Data And Re-calibrate Them Using EUROMOD," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 9(3), pages 5-34.
  16. Hyslop, Dean R. & Townsend, Wilbur, 2017. "Employment misclassification in survey and administrative reports," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 19-23.

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Access and download statistics

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:25:y:2007:p:513-551. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Journals Division)

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis using RePEc data.