Mismeasured Household Size and its Implications for the Identification of Economies of Scale

36 Pages Posted: 22 Dec 2008

See all articles by Timothy Halliday

Timothy Halliday

University of Hawaii - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Abstract

We consider the possibility that demographic variables are measured with errors which arise because household surveys measure demographic structures at a point-in-time, whereas household composition evolves throughout the survey period. We construct and estimate sharp bounds on household size and find that the degree of these measurement errors is non-trivial. However, while these errors have the potential to resolve the Deaton-Paxson paradox, they fail to do so.

Keywords: migration, measurement error, semi-parametric bounds, economies of scale

JEL Classification: J12, C14

Suggested Citation

Halliday, Timothy, Mismeasured Household Size and its Implications for the Identification of Economies of Scale. IZA Discussion Paper No. 3896, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1318855 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1318855

Timothy Halliday (Contact Author)

University of Hawaii - Department of Economics ( email )

Honolulu, HI 96822
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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