Does the Effect of Incentive Payments on Survey Response Rates Differ by Income Support History?

Juan David Baron (), Robert Vincent Breunig (), Deborah A. Cobb-Clark (), Tue Gorgens and Anastasia Sartbayeva ()
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Anastasia Sartbayeva: Australian National University

No 3473, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Abstract: This paper asks which sub-groups of the population are affected by the payment of a small cash incentive to respond to a telephone survey. We find that an incentive improves response rates primarily amongst those individuals with the longest history of income support receipt. Importantly, these individuals are least likely to respond to the survey in the absence of an incentive. The incentive thus improves both average response rates and acts to equalize response rates across different socio-economic groups, potentially reducing non-response bias. Interestingly, the main channel through which the incentive appears to increase response rates is in improving the probability of making contact with individuals in the group with heavy exposure to the income support system.

Keywords: survey response; incentive payments; income support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C89 I39 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: Written 2008-04
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