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Asking Households about Expenditures: What Have We Learned?

In: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures

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  • Thomas F. Crossley
  • Joachim K. Winter
Abstract
When designing household surveys, including surveys that measure consumption expenditure, numerous choices need to be made. Which survey mode should be used? Do recall questions or diaries provide more reliable expenditure data? How should the concept of a household be defined? How should the length of the recall period, the level of aggregation of expenditure items, and the response format be chosen? How are responses affected by incentives? Can computer-assisted surveys be used to reduce or correct response error in real time? In this paper, we provide a selective review of the literature on these questions. We also suggest some promising directions for future research.
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Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:12666
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Adam Bee & Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2013. "The Validity of Consumption Data: Are the Consumer Expenditure Interview and Diary Surveys Informative?," NBER Chapters, in: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures, pages 204-240, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. John Bagnall & David Bounie & Kim P. Huynh & Anneke Kosse & Tobias Schmidt & Scott Schuh, 2016. "Consumer Cash Usage: A Cross-Country Comparison with Payment Diary Survey Data," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 12(4), pages 1-61, December.
    4. Elisa Sicuri & Azucena Bardají & Sergi Sanz & Sergi Alonso & Silke Fernandes & Kara Hanson & Myriam Arevalo-Herrera & Clara Menéndez, 2018. "Patients’ costs, socio-economic and health system aspects associated with malaria in pregnancy in an endemic area of Colombia," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-13, May.
    5. Van Ooijen, Raun & de Bresser, Jochem & Knoef, Marike, 2018. "Health and Household Expenditures," Other publications TiSEM 0912a7f0-22f5-4f25-acbc-e, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Lührmann, Melanie & Serra-Garcia, Marta & Winter, Joachim, 2015. "Teaching teenagers in finance: Does it work?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 160-174.
    7. 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.
    8. Winter, Joachim & Lührmann, Melanie & Serra Garcia, Marta, 2013. "The effects of financial literacy training: Evidence from a field experiment in German high schools," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79744, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Alice sanwald & Engelbert Theurl, 2014. "What drives out-of pocket health expenditures of private households? - Empirical evidence from the Austrian household budget survey," Working Papers 2014-04, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    10. 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.
    11. Marcin Hitczenko, 2022. "Improved Estimation of Poisson Rate Distributions Through a Multimode Survey Design," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 51(2), pages 699-727, May.

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    JEL classification:

    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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