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Reference Income Effects in the Determination of Equivalence Scales Using Income Satisfaction Data

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  • Knabe, Andreas
  • Borah, Melanie
  • Kuhställer, Carina

Abstract

We estimate household equivalence scales using income satisfaction data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. We extend previous studies applying this approach by taking reference income into account. This allows separating needs-based from reference effects in the determination of income satisfaction. We show that this adjustment helps to overcome a bias causing an overestimation of adults’ and an underestimation of children’s equivalence weights. Our results indicate that controlling for income comparisons completely eliminates the gap between equivalence scale parameters for adults and children found in other studies. Furthermore, the equivalence weight of children appears to be decreasing in household income.

Suggested Citation

  • Knabe, Andreas & Borah, Melanie & Kuhställer, Carina, 2016. "Reference Income Effects in the Determination of Equivalence Scales Using Income Satisfaction Data," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145545, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145545
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    Cited by:

    1. Kaiser, Caspar, 2018. "People do not adapt to income changes: A re-evaluation of the dynamic effects of (reference) income on life satisfaction with GSOEP and UKHLS data," MPRA Paper 89867, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Son Nghiem & Rasheda Khanam & Xuan-Binh Vu & Bach Xuan Tran, 2020. "Implicitly Estimating the Cost of Mental Illness in Australia: A Standard-of-Living Approach," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 261-270, April.
    3. Kaiser, Caspar & Vendrik, Maarten C.M., 2020. "How threatening are transformations of happiness scales to subjective wellbeing research?," Research Memorandum 032, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    4. Kaiser, Caspar, 2020. "People do not adapt. New analyses of the dynamic effects of own and reference income on life satisfaction," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 494-513.
    5. Kaiser, Caspar, 2022. "Using memories to assess the intrapersonal comparability of wellbeing reports," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 410-442.
    6. Steven F. Koch, 2023. "Basic Needs (in)Security and Subjective Equivalence Scales," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 723-757, October.
    7. Melanie Borah, 2020. "Estimating Extended Income Equivalence Scales from Income Satisfaction and Time Use Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 687-718, June.
    8. Christian Dudel & Jan Marvin Garbuszus & Julian Schmied, 2021. "Assessing differences in household needs: a comparison of approaches for the estimation of equivalence scales using German expenditure data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1629-1659, April.
    9. Bose-Duker,Theophiline & Gaddis,Isis & Kilic,Talip & Lechene,Valérie & Pendakur,Krishna, 2021. "Diamonds in the Rough? : Repurposing Multi-Topic Surveys to Estimate Individual-Level Consumption Poverty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9661, The World Bank.
    10. Kseniya Abanokova & Hai‐Anh H. Dang & Michael Lokshin, 2022. "Do Adjustments for Equivalence Scales Affect Poverty Dynamics? Evidence from the Russian Federation during 1994–2017," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(S1), pages 167-192, April.

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    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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