Household consumption: Research questions, measurement issues, and data collection strategies

Issue title: Assessing the need for a new nationally representative household panel survey in the United States

Subtitle:

Guest editors: Robert Moffitt, Robert F. Schoeni, Charles Brown, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Mick P. Couper, Ana V. Diez-Roux, Erik Hurst and Judith A. Seltzer

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Pistaferri, Luigi

Affiliations: Department of Economics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Tel.: +1 650 724 4904; Fax: +1 650 725 5702; E-mail: pista@stanford.edu

Abstract: In this essay I summarize what I see as the most important academic and policy issues related to the study of consumption behavior in the US (and elsewhere). I discuss the type of data researchers working on these topics have available, the problems they encounter, and how the ``big data revolution'' is rapidly changing access and availability of data on household spending. Finally, I discuss the arguments in favor and against starting a new national panel survey collecting consumption-related information as opposed to enhancing or improving the existing surveys.

Keywords: Consumption, survey data

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150401

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 123-149, 2015