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Which Businesses Answer Surveys? Evidence from Dutch Administrative Data

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  • Fitzgerald, Jack

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

I leverage a unique administrative register covering the universe of establishments in the Netherlands to examine how characteristics differ between establishments that do and do not respond to business surveys. Only 19% of Dutch establishments responded to regional business surveys in 2022. Responsive establishments employ fewer people, and exhibit higher parttime employment rates, than unresponsive establishments. Sectoral response rates vary by up to 32 percentage points. Enterprises registered to residential addresses comprise over 70% of establishments, yet exhibit response rates 18 percentage points lower than an average office. However, controlling for contact probability reveals that the majority of sectoral and occupational variation in response rates can be traced back to differences in contact probability rather than responsiveness. These findings highlight challenges in the representativeness and generalizability of business survey data, as well as opportunities to improve the design of business surveys.

Suggested Citation

  • Fitzgerald, Jack, 2026. "Which Businesses Answer Surveys? Evidence from Dutch Administrative Data," SocArXiv zufw2_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:zufw2_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/zufw2_v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hansson, Jesper & Jansson, Per & Lof, Marten, 2005. "Business survey data: Do they help in forecasting GDP growth?," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 377-389.
    2. Annamaria Bianchi & Silvia Biffignandi, 2017. "Representativeness in panel surveys," Mathematical Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 126-143, April.
    3. Altig, David & Barrero, Jose Maria & Bloom, Nicholas & Davis, Steven J. & Meyer, Brent & Parker, Nicholas, 2022. "Surveying business uncertainty," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 231(1), pages 282-303.
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