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Working
Paper Series:
09.03
The Under-Reporting of Transfers in Household Surveys: Its Nature and Consequences
Bruce D. Meyer, Wallace K. C. Mok, and James X. Sullivan
http://www.harrisschool.uchicago.edu/faculty/web-pages/bruce-meyer.asp
Abstract:
High rates of understatement are found for many government transfer programs and in many datasets.
This understatement has major implications for our understanding of economic well-being and the
effects of transfer programs. We provide estimates of the extent of under-reporting for ten transfer
programs in five major nationally representative surveys by comparing reported weighted totals for
these programs with totals obtained from government agencies. We also examine imputation procedures
and rates. We find increasing under-reporting and imputation over time and sharp differences across
programs and surveys. We explore reasons for under-reporting and how under-reporting biases existing
studies and suggest corrections.
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Revised version: July 2009
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