(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)"> (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)">
[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/nbr/nberch/12673.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Is the Consumer Expenditure Survey Representative by Income?

In: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures

Author

Listed:
  • John Sabelhaus
  • David Johnson
  • Stephen Ash
  • David Swanson
  • Thesia I. Garner
  • John Greenlees
  • Steve Henderson
Abstract
Aggregate under-reporting of household spending in the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) can result from two fundamental types of measurement errors: higher-income households (who presumably spend more than average) are under-represented in the CE estimation sample, or there is systematic under-reporting of spending by at least some CE survey respondents. Using a new data set linking CE units to zip-code level average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), we show that the very highest-income households are less likely to respond to the survey when they are sampled, but unit non-response rates are not associated with income over most of the income distribution. Although increasing representation at the high end of the income distribution could in principle significantly raise aggregate CE spending, the low reported average propensity to spend for higher-income respondent households could account for at least as much of the aggregate shortfall in total spending.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • John Sabelhaus & David Johnson & Stephen Ash & David Swanson & Thesia I. Garner & John Greenlees & Steve Henderson, 2014. "Is the Consumer Expenditure Survey Representative by Income?," NBER Chapters, in: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures, pages 241-262, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:12673
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c12673.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Burkhauser & Shuaizhang Feng & Stephen Jenkins & Jeff Larrimore, 2009. "Recent Trends in Top Income Shares in the USA: Reconciling Estimates from March CPS and IRS Tax Return Data," Working Papers 09-26, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Garner, Thesia I. & Short, Kathleen, 2009. "Accounting for owner-occupied dwelling services: Aggregates and distributions," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 233-248, September.
    3. Dirk Krueger & Fabrizio Perri & Luigi Pistaferri & Giovanni L. Violante, 2010. "Cross Sectional Facts for Macroeconomists," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Orazio Attanasio & Gabriella Berloffa & Richard Blundell & Ian Preston, 2002. "From Earnings Inequality to Consumption Inequality," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(478), pages 52-59, March.
    5. Clinton P. McCully & Brian C. Moyer & Kenneth J. Stewart, 2007. "A Reconciliation between the Consumer Price Index and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index," BEA Papers 0079, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    6. Bruce D. Meyer & Wallace K. C. Mok & James X. Sullivan, 2009. "The Under-Reporting of Transfers in Household Surveys: Its Nature and Consequences," NBER Working Papers 15181, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Jonathan Heathcote & Fabrizio Perri & Giovanni L. Violante, 2010. "Unequal We Stand: An Empirical Analysis of Economic Inequality in the United States: 1967-2006," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 15-51, January.
    8. Dirk Krueger & Fabrizio Perri, 2006. "Does Income Inequality Lead to Consumption Inequality? Evidence and Theory -super-1," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(1), pages 163-193.
    9. Arthur B. Kennickell & R. Louise Woodburn, 1999. "CONSISTENT WEIGHT DESIGN FOR THE 1989, 1992 AND 1995 SCFs, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 45(2), pages 193-215, June.
    10. Mark Aguiar & Mark Bils, 2015. "Has Consumption Inequality Mirrored Income Inequality?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(9), pages 2725-2756, September.
    11. Barry Bosworth & Gary Burtless & John Sabelhaus, 1991. "The Decline in Saving: Evidence from Household Surveys," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(1), pages 183-256.
    12. Martin Browning & Thomas Crossley, 2009. "Are Two Cheap, Noisy Measures Better Than One Expensive, Accurate One?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 99-103, May.
    13. Thomas F. Crossley, 2009. "Measuring Consumption and Saving: Introduction," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 30(Special I), pages 303-307, December.
    14. Slesnick,Daniel T., 2001. "Consumption and Social Welfare," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521497206, September.
    15. Short, Kathleen, et al, 1998. "Poverty-Measurement Research Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the Survey of Income and Program Participation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 352-356, May.
    16. David Johnson & Stephanie Shipp, 1997. "Trends In Inequality Using Consumption‐Expenditures: The U.S. From 1960 To 1993," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 43(2), pages 133-152, June.
    17. John Sabelhaus & Jeffrey A. Groen, 2000. "Can Permanent-Income Theory Explain Cross-Sectional Consumption Patterns?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(3), pages 431-438, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhen Huo & José-Víctor Ríos-Rull, 2016. "Financial Frictions, Asset Prices, and the Great Recession," Staff Report 526, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    2. Michael Gelman & Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Shachar Kariv & Dmitri Koustas & Matthew D. Shapiro & Dan Silverman & Steven Tadelis, 2023. "The Response of Consumer Spending to Changes in Gasoline Prices," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 129-160, April.
    3. Asger Lau Andersen & Amalie Sofie Jensen & Niels Johannesen & Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Søren Leth-Petersen & Adam Sheridan, 2023. "How Do Households Respond to Job Loss? Lessons from Multiple High-Frequency Datasets," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 1-29, October.
    4. Martin Lettau & Sydney C. Ludvigson & Sai Ma, 2019. "Capital Share Risk in U.S. Asset Pricing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(4), pages 1753-1792, August.
    5. Bart H. H. Golsteyn & Stefa Hirsch, 2019. "Are estimates of intergenerational mobility biased by non-response? Evidence from the Netherlands," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 52(1), pages 29-63, January.
    6. Jonathan Fisher & Joseph Marchand, 2014. "Does the retirement consumption puzzle differ across the distribution?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(2), pages 279-296, June.
    7. Edmund Crawley & Alexandros Theloudis, 2024. "Income Shocks and their Transmission into Consumption," Papers 2404.12214, arXiv.org.
    8. Crawley, Edmund, 2020. "In search of lost time aggregation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    9. Sager, Lutz, 2019. "Income inequality and carbon consumption: Evidence from Environmental Engel curves," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(S1).
    10. Barry Z. Cynamon & Steven M. Fazzari, 2017. "Household Income, Demand, and Saving: Deriving Macro Data With Micro Data Concepts," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(1), pages 53-69, March.
    11. Garry Barrett & Peter Levell & Kevin Milligan, 2014. "A Comparison of Micro and Macro Expenditure Measures across Countries Using Differing Survey Methods," NBER Chapters, in: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures, pages 263-286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Eika, Lasse & Mogstad, Magne & Vestad, Ola L., 2020. "What can we learn about household consumption expenditure from data on income and assets?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    13. Jonathan D. Fisher & David S. Johnson & Timothy M. Smeeding & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2022. "Inequality in 3‐D: Income, Consumption, and Wealth," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(1), pages 16-42, March.
    14. Jonathan Fisher & Joseph Marchand, 2014. "Does the retirement consumption puzzle differ across the distribution?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(2), pages 279-296, June.
    15. Lisa J. Dettling & Sebastian Devlin-Foltz & Jacob Krimmel & Sarah Pack & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2015. "Comparing Micro and Macro Sources for Household Accounts in the United States: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-86, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    16. Campos, Rodolfo G. & Reggio, Iliana, 2014. "Measurement error in imputation procedures," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 197-202.
    17. Starr, Jared & Nicolson, Craig & Ash, Michael & Markowitz, Ezra M. & Moran, Daniel, 2023. "Assessing U.S. consumers' carbon footprints reveals outsized impact of the top 1%," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    18. Andrew Figura & Christopher J. Waller, 2022. "What does the Beveridge curve tell us about the likelihood of a soft landing?," FEDS Notes 2022-07-29, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    19. Jesse Bricker & Alice Henriques & Jacob Krimmel & John Sabelhaus, 2016. "Measuring Income and Wealth at the Top Using Administrative and Survey Data," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(1 (Spring), pages 261-331.
    20. Shubhangi Agrawal & Sambit Bhattacharyya & Chirantan Chatterjee & Somdeep Chatterjee, 2024. "Income shock and Women’s Health Spending:Evidence from India," Working Paper Series 1324, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    21. Edward N. Wolff, 2016. "Deconstructing Household Wealth Trends in the United States, 1983 - 2013," NBER Working Papers 22704, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Petach, Luke A. & Tavani, Daniele, 2021. "Consumption externalities and growth: Theory and evidence for the United States," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 976-997.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Orazio Attanasio & Erik Hurst & Luigi Pistaferri, 2012. "The Evolution of Income, Consumption, and Leisure Inequality in The US, 1980-2010," NBER Working Papers 17982, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Orazio Attanasio & Erik Hurst & Luigi Pistaferri, 2014. "The Evolution of Income, Consumption, and Leisure Inequality in the United States, 1980–2010," NBER Chapters, in: Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures, pages 100-140, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Mark Aguiar & Mark Bils, 2015. "Has Consumption Inequality Mirrored Income Inequality?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(9), pages 2725-2756, September.
    4. Esa Karonen & Mikko Niemelä, 2022. "Necessity-Rich, Leisure-Poor: The Long-Term Relationship Between Income Cohorts and Consumption Through Age-Period-Cohort Analysis," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 599-620, September.
    5. Till Treeck, 2014. "Did Inequality Cause The U.S. Financial Crisis?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 421-448, July.
    6. Lichner, Ivan & Lyócsa, Štefan & Výrostová, Eva, 2022. "Nominal and discretionary household income convergence: The effect of a crisis in a small open economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 18-31.
    7. Jonathan Heathcote & Fabrizio Perri & Giovanni Violante & Lichen Zhang, 2023. "More Unequal We Stand? Inequality Dynamics in the United States, 1967–2021," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 50, pages 235-266, October.
    8. Krueger, D. & Mitman, K. & Perri, F., 2016. "Macroeconomics and Household Heterogeneity," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 843-921, Elsevier.
    9. Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2011. "Viewpoint: Further results on measuring the well‐being of the poor using income and consumption," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 52-87, February.
    10. Jonathan Fisher & David S. Johnson & Timothy M. Smeeding, 2015. "Inequality of Income and Consumption in the U.S.: Measuring the Trends in Inequality from 1984 to 2011 for the Same Individuals," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(4), pages 630-650, December.
    11. De Magalhães, Leandro & Santaeulàlia-Llopis, Raül, 2018. "The consumption, income, and wealth of the poorest: An empirical analysis of economic inequality in rural and urban Sub-Saharan Africa for macroeconomists," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 350-371.
    12. Giacomo De Giorgi & Luca Gambetti, 2017. "Business Cycle Fluctuations and the Distribution of Consumption," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 23, pages 19-41, January.
    13. Mian, A. & Sufi, A., 2016. "Who Bears the Cost of Recessions? The Role of House Prices and Household Debt," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 255-296, Elsevier.
    14. Zhao, Da & Wu, Tianhao & He, Qiwei, 2017. "Consumption inequality and its evolution in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 208-228.
    15. Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2013. "Consumption and Income Inequality and the Great Recession," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 178-183, May.
    16. Arthur Grimes & Sean Hyland, 2020. "Measuring cross‐country material wellbeing and inequality using consumer durables," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 67(3), pages 248-271, July.
    17. Ch.-M. CHEVALIER, 2018. "Consumption inequality in France between 1995 and 2011," Documents de Travail de l'Insee - INSEE Working Papers g2018-07, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques.
    18. Till van Treeck, 2012. "Did inequality cause the U.S. financial crisis?," IMK Working Paper 91-2012, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    19. van Treeck, Till. & Sturn, Simon., 2012. "Income inequality as a cause of the Great Recession? : A survey of current debates," ILO Working Papers 994709343402676, International Labour Organization.
    20. Olivier Coibion & Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Dmitri Koustas, 2021. "Consumption Inequality and the Frequency of Purchases," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 449-482, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:12673. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.