Earnings Measurement Error, Nonresponse and Administrative Mismatch in the CPS

Christopher R. Bollinger, Charles Hokayem and James P. Ziliak

Working Papers from U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Abstract: Using the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement matched to Social Security Administration Detailed Earnings Records, we link observations across consecutive years to investigate a relationship between item nonresponse and measurement error in the earnings questions. Linking individuals across consecutive years allows us to observe switching from response to nonresponse and vice versa. We estimate OLS, IV, and finite mixture models that allow for various assumptions separately for men and women. We find that those who respond in both years of the survey exhibit less measurement error than those who respond in one year. Our findings suggest a trade-off between survey response and data quality that should be considered by survey designers, data collectors, and data users.

Keywords: Earnings; survey response; Current Population Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C18 C21 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
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https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2025/adrm/ces/CES-WP-25-48.pdf First version, 2025 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cen:wpaper:25-48

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