Measuring Total Household Spending in a Monthly Internet Survey: Evidence from the American Life Panel / Michael D. Hurd, Susann Rohwedder.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hurd, Michael D.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Rohwedder, Susann.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17974.

NBER working paper series no. w17974

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2012.

Summary:

Beginning in May 2009 we fielded a monthly Internet survey designed to measure total household spending as the aggregate of about 40 spending components. This paper reports on a number of outcomes from 30 waves of data collection. These outcomes include sample attrition, indicators of data quality such as item nonresponse and the variance in total spending, and substantive results such as the trajectory of total spending and the trajectories of some components of spending. We conclude that high-frequency surveying for total spending is feasible and that the resulting data show expected patterns of levels and change.

Notes:

Print version record

April 2012.