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Methodological Innovations in Collecting Spending Data: The HRS Consumption and Activities Mail Survey

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  • Michael Hurd
  • Susann Rohwedder
Abstract
It has traditionally been believed that collecting survey measures of total spending necessarily involved asking a large number of questions, too many for inclusion of a comprehensive spending measure in a general-purpose survey. In this paper the authors report on a supplemental survey to the Health and Retirement Study that took up this challenge. They discuss issues that arise designing a survey module to collect spending data with strict time constraints, describe how the implementation in the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS) played out, and elicit anomalies that more detailed analysis of data quality revealed. They report how they addressed some of these anomalies in subsequent waves of CAMS. Other anomalies required conducting additional randomized experiments to find what explains the observed patterns. The results highlight the tension between asking about spending using a long time frame, which exacerbates recall bias, versus using a short time frame, which risks relying on an unrepresentative snapshot of a household's spending to proxy the total for the last 12 months. An important complicating factor in deciding which goods should be put into which time frames is that there is substantial heterogeneity in the frequency of spending across households even for the same category of spending.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2009. "Methodological Innovations in Collecting Spending Data: The HRS Consumption and Activities Mail Survey," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 30(Special I), pages 435-459, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ifs:fistud:v:30:y:2009:i:3-4:p:435-459
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael D. Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2011. "Economic Preparation for Retirement," NBER Chapters, in: Investigations in the Economics of Aging, pages 77-113, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Fenaba R. Addo & Xing Zhang, 2020. "Debt Concordance and Relationship Quality: A Couple-Level Analysis," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 405-423, September.
    3. Richard Blundell & Margherita Borella & Jeanne Commault & Mariacristina De Nardi, 2024. "Old Age Risks, Consumption, and Insurance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(2), pages 575-613, February.
    4. Marco Angrisani & Michael D. Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2015. "The Effect of Housing and Stock Wealth Losses on Spending in the Great Recession," Working Papers WR-1101, RAND Corporation.
    5. Michael D. Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2013. "Measuring Total Household Spending in a Monthly Internet Survey: Evidence from the American Life Panel," NBER Chapters, in: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures, pages 365-387, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Thomas F. Crossley & Joachim K. Winter, 2014. "Asking Households about Expenditures: What Have We Learned?," NBER Chapters, in: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures, pages 23-50, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Hoderlein, Stefan & Winter, Joachim, 2010. "Structural measurement errors in nonseparable models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 157(2), pages 432-440, August.
    8. Mary A. Burke & Ali Ozdagli, 2023. "Household Inflation Expectations and Consumer Spending: Evidence from Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(4), pages 948-961, July.
    9. Keane, Michael & Thakur, Ramna, 2018. "Health care spending and hidden poverty in India," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(4), pages 435-451.
    10. Michael D. Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2013. "Wealth Dynamics and Active Saving at Older Ages," NBER Chapters, in: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures, pages 388-413, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Michael D. Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2011. "The Effects of the Financial Crisis on Actual and Anticipated Consumption," Working Papers wp255, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    12. Dietrich, Alexander M., 2023. "Consumption categories, household attention, and inflation expectations: Implications for optimal monetary policy," University of Tübingen Working Papers in Business and Economics 157, University of Tuebingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, School of Business and Economics.
    13. McGovern, Mark E. & Canning, David & Bärnighausen, Till, 2018. "Accounting for non-response bias using participation incentives and survey design: An application using gift vouchers," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 239-244.
    14. Marcin Hitczenko, 2021. "Improved Estimation of Poisson Rate Distributions through a Multi-Mode Survey Design," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2021-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    15. Hurd, Michael D. & Rohwedder, Susann, 2013. "Heterogeneity in spending change at retirement," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 1, pages 60-71.
    16. Marcin Hitczenko, 2013. "Optimal recall period length in consumer payment surveys," Working Papers 13-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    17. Fiedler, John L. & Mwangi, Dena M., 2016. "Improving household consumption and expenditure surveys’ food consumption metrics: Developing a strategic approach to the unfinished agenda:," IFPRI discussion papers 1570, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    18. Martin Browning & Thomas F. Crossley & Joachim Winter, 2014. "The Measurement of Household Consumption Expenditures," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 475-501, August.
    19. Marcin Hitczenko, 2022. "Improved Estimation of Poisson Rate Distributions Through a Multimode Survey Design," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 51(2), pages 699-727, May.
    20. Joanna Stavins, 2020. "Credit Card Debt and Consumer Payment Choice: What Can We Learn from Credit Bureau Data?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 58(1), pages 59-90, August.
    21. , 2020. "Why Does Consumption Fluctuate in Old Age and How Should the Government Insure it?," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 40, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    22. Jim Been & Susann Rohwedder & Michael Hurd, 2021. "Households’ joint consumption spending and home production responses to retirement in the US," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 959-985, December.
    23. Michael Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2011. "Consumption and Differential Mortality," Working Papers wp254, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    24. Mark McGovern & David Canning & Till Bärnighausen, 2018. "Accounting for Non-Response Bias using Participation Incentives and Survey Design," CHaRMS Working Papers 18-02, Centre for HeAlth Research at the Management School (CHaRMS).
    25. Michael Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2016. "Consumption Smoothing During the Financial Crisis: The Effect of Unemployment on Household Spending," Working Papers wp353, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.

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