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The Effects of Bracketing in Wealth Estimation
Author(s) -
Chand Harish,
Gan Li
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
review of income and wealth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.024
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1475-4991
pISSN - 0034-6586
DOI - 10.1111/1475-4991.00086
Subject(s) - bracketing (phenomenology) , economics , estimation , econometrics , keynesian economics , philosophy , management , epistemology
The use of bracketing in wealth surveys is sometimes criticized on the grounds that it will encourage respondents to substitute rough guesses for careful thought. In such a manner, the use of bracketing will “crowd out” more specific answers, creating the illusion of a reduction in nonresponse. This paper examines the patterns of wealth response in the first two waves of the Health and Retirement Study. On average, people do not appear to transition to bracketing. New tests of the breakeven level of crowding‐out are suggested. Based on the explanatory power of the brackets, the degree of crowding‐out which would be necessary to make the use of bracketing counterproductive appears to be much higher than plausible.