Addressing the Absence of Hours Information in Linked Employer-Employee Data

Motu Working Paper No. 15-17

58 Pages Posted: 14 Nov 2015

See all articles by Richard Fabling

Richard Fabling

Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust

David C. Maré

Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust; University of Waikato - Economics

Date Written: November 3, 2015

Abstract

The availability of tax-based payroll data has proved a blessing to labour and business economists wishing to understand workers, their jobs and their employers. Unfortunately, administrative data do not always include key variables of interest. In the case of New Zealand, linked employer-employee data do not include any information on hours worked. We implement a set of complementary methods to patch this gap, deriving an approximate measure of full-time equivalent labour input. In addition, and more specific to the New Zealand data environment, we describe a method for identifying working proprietors using annual tax-filed information, thus providing a more complete picture of total firm labour input.

Keywords: Linked employer-employee tax data, measuring labour input, full-time equivalent, working proprietors

JEL Classification: D22, L11, Q54

Suggested Citation

Fabling, Richard Blaikie and Maré, David C., Addressing the Absence of Hours Information in Linked Employer-Employee Data (November 3, 2015). Motu Working Paper No. 15-17, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2689943 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2689943

Richard Blaikie Fabling (Contact Author)

Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust ( email )

Level 1, 93 Cuba Street
P.O. Box 24390
Wellington, 6142
New Zealand

David C. Maré

Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust ( email )

PO Box 24390
Wellington, 6021
New Zealand
64-4-9394250 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.motu.org.nz

University of Waikato - Economics

New Zealand

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
67
Abstract Views
765
Rank
608,061
PlumX Metrics