Occupation Inflation in the Current Population Survey

29 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2013

See all articles by Jonathan D. Fisher

Jonathan D. Fisher

Stanford University - Stanford Center on Poverty & Inequality

Christina Houseworth

University of Illinois at Chicago

Date Written: September 2012

Abstract

A common caveat often accompanying results relying on household surveys regards respondent error. There is research using independent, presumably error-free administrative data, to estimate the extent of error in the data, the correlates of error, and potential corrections for the error. We investigate measurement error in occupation in the Current Population Survey (CPS) using the panel component of the CPS to identify those that incorrectly report changing occupation. We find evidence that individuals are inflating their occupation to higher skilled and higher paying occupations than the ones they actually perform. Occupation inflation biases the education and race coefficients in standard Mincer equation results within occupations.

Suggested Citation

Fisher, Jonathan D. and Houseworth, Christina, Occupation Inflation in the Current Population Survey (September 2012). US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Paper No. CES-WP-12-26, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2205198 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2205198

Jonathan D. Fisher (Contact Author)

Stanford University - Stanford Center on Poverty & Inequality ( email )

450 Serra Mall, Building 80
Stanford, CA 94305-7208
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://econofish.wordpress.com/

Christina Houseworth

University of Illinois at Chicago ( email )

1200 W Harrison St
Chicago, IL 60607
United States

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