Item Non-Response on Income and Wealth Questions

40 Pages Posted: 8 Oct 2002

See all articles by Regina T. Riphahn

Regina T. Riphahn

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg-Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Oliver Serfling

University of Basel

Date Written: September 2002

Abstract

After reviewing the literature on item non-response we focus on three issues: First, is there significant heterogeneity in item non-response across financial questions and in the association of covariates with item non-response across outcomes? Second, can the informational value of surveys be improved by matching interviewers and respondents based on their characteristics? Third, how does offering a "don't know" answer option affect respondent behavior? The questions are answered based on detailed survey and interviewer data from the German Socioeconomic Panel, considering a broad set of income and wealth outcomes.

Keywords: Item Non-response, Survey Quality, Interviewer Effects, Income and Wealth

JEL Classification: C81, J30, I32

Suggested Citation

Riphahn, Regina T. and Serfling, Oliver, Item Non-Response on Income and Wealth Questions (September 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=331467 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.331467

Regina T. Riphahn (Contact Author)

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg-Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg - Department of Economics ( email )

Lange Gasse 20
Nuernberg, D-90403
Germany

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Oliver Serfling

University of Basel ( email )

Petersplatz 1
Basel, CH-4003
Switzerland

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