Measurement Error in Self-Reported Data on Stigmatized Behavior: Experimental Evidence on Intimate Partner Violence

Jorge M. Agüero, Ursula Aldana, Erica M. Field, Veronica Frisancho, Ignacio Rodriguez Hurtado and Javier Romero

No 35891, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Error in the measurement of key development outcomes affects our understanding of socioeconomic phenomena and their policy implications. This paper focuses on measuring intimate partner violence (IPV), a public health issue affecting women globally. We introduce a novel, privacy-enhancing data collection method using a ballot, comparing it to standard survey techniques in which responses are not kept private from enumerators, and list experiments, an approach ensuring complete anonymity. Our findings show that improved privacy yields higher and more accurate IPV reports than both, especially among women with low education. By linking our data with two natural experiments, we demonstrate that the non-random nature of underreporting with standard methods can lead to biased estimates of IPV determinants.

JEL-codes: C81 C83 J12 J16 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-10
Note: DEV
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