Item nonresponse on income questions in panel surveys: Incidence, imputation and the impact on inequality and mobility
Tóm tắt
This paper deals with item nonresponse on income questions in panel surveys
and with longitudinal and cross–sectional imputation strategies to cope with this
phenomenon. Using data from the German SOEP, we compare income inequality and
mobility indicators based only on truly observed information to those derived from observed
and imputed observations. First, we find a positive correlation between inequality
and imputation. Secondly, income mobility appears to be significantly understated using
observed information only. Finally, longitudinal analyses provide evidence for a positive
inter–temporal correlation between item nonresponse and any kind of subsequent nonresponse.