The under-reporting of financial wealth in the Survey on Household income and Wealth

Leandro D�Aurizio (), Ivan Faiella, Stefano Iezzi and Andrea Neri
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Leandro D�Aurizio: Bank of Italy

No 610, Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: The sample estimates are uniformly below those of the Financial Accounts, even after harmonising all the definitions and the evaluation criteria. Such a problem can stem from the interviewee�s unwillingness to disclose the actual value of the asset (under-reporting). The paper presents a method to correct this potential source of bias in order to improve Survey of Household Income and Wealth financial assets. We use a sample survey of customers of the Unicredit group, coupled with administrative data on the assets actually owned, as external sources of information. The adjustment procedure enables to account for a large share of the gap between the figures derived from the sample and from the Financial accounts, significantly increasing the average value of the financial assets (inflating the unadjusted figure of 22.000 euros to 59.000 euros, amounting to about 85 percent of the Financial account estimates). The adjustment produces a larger correction for private bonds and mutual funds. The intensity of the correction is higher for one-person households, when the head of household is less educated or not employed, and it raises with his/her age.

Keywords: Household Wealth; Survey Method; Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C25 C42 D31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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