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Measuring the Consistency of Cross‐Sectional and Longitudinal Income Information in EU ‐ SILC
Author(s) -
Krell Kristina,
Frick Joachim R.,
Grabka Markus M.
Publication year - 2017
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/roiw.12202
Subject(s) - comparability , imputation (statistics) , silc , consistency (knowledge bases) , economics , econometrics , economic inequality , quality (philosophy) , survey data collection , data quality , demographic economics , inequality , missing data , statistics , computer science , mathematics , mathematical analysis , metric (unit) , philosophy , physics , operations management , combinatorics , artificial intelligence , optoelectronics , quantum tunnelling , epistemology
The EU ‐wide survey “ S tatistics on I ncome and L iving C onditions” ( EU ‐ SILC ) is extremely important for international social science research and policy advice. It is therefore crucial to ensure that the data are of the highest quality and international comparability. This paper is aimed at identifying unexpected developments in income levels, income mobility, and inequality in the EU ‐ SILC data between 2005 and 2009. We examine the consistency of EU ‐ SILC by comparing cross‐sectional results with findings based on two‐year longitudinal samples. Although the data represent similar populations, for several countries the results of this comparison differ widely. One important outcome is the high degree of variability over time in countries that obtain their income information from register data. This suggests methodological challenges in the clear designation of new subsample members, in the reweighting of the data, in imputation of missing values, and in other areas.