The Working Poor--A Statistical Artifact?

Catherine Weinberger () and Marlene Kim ()
Additional contact information
Catherine Weinberger: Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Marlene Kim: Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations, Rutgers University

Eastern Economic Journal, 1999, vol. 25, issue 2, 155-167

Abstract: We examine the effect of measurement error on estimates of the size of the working poor population. Using a unique data set, which includes both self-reported and employer-reported earnings, we find that inaccurately reported earnings are common. Among those with very low self-reported earnings are many individuals with underreported earnings. However, this is offset by a high incidence of over reporting among those who actually have low earnings. We find that, by fortunate coincidence, these counterbalancing sources of measurement error cancel each other out exactly. Estimates of the working poor population based on self-reported earnings are extremely accurate. This result is robust to changes in the designated poverty threshold.

Keywords: Earnings; Poor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I32 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://web.holycross.edu/RePEc/eej/Archive/Volume25/V25N2P155_167.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:25:y:1999:i:2:p:155-167

Access Statistics for this article

Eastern Economic Journal is currently edited by Cynthia A. Bansak, St. Lawrence University and Allan A. Zebedee, Clarkson University

More articles in Eastern Economic Journal from Eastern Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Victor Matheson, College of the Holy Cross ().