Journal of Economic and Social Measurement - Volume 36, issue 1-2

Authors: Greenlees, John S.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper employs a constant-elasticity of substitution (CES) index formula to improve the accuracy of the preliminary values of the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U). Using the CES behavioural model, I present estimates of the overall …extent of consumer response to relative price changes exhibited in Consumer Expenditure Survey data for 1999–2008. The associated parameter estimates are then used to develop CES forecasts of the final C-CPI-U index values. Simulations demonstrate that use of the CES approach over the last several years would have resulted in smaller index revisions between the preliminary and final C-CPI-U releases. Looking to the future, CES-based preliminary estimates could increase the usefulness of the C-CPI-U to government programs and other users. Show more

Keywords: CPI, consumer, price, index, prediction, CES

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2011-0341

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 1-18, 2011

Authors: Maynard, Marc | Timms-Ferrara, Lois

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The research value of survey data is measured by its utility, which is driven by researchers' ability to evaluate survey quality. The proliferation of polls combined with new and emerging technologies for data collection and analysis have made it more …difficult for researchers, journal editors, journalists and the general public to evaluate survey quality and reliability. In a time of innovation and ever-changing technologies the very definition of "disclosure" is fluid, further hampering efforts to evaluate survey quality. This paper provides a review of the benefits and challenges of full methodological disclosure from various vantage points, and a detailed assessment of efforts to codify disclosure requirements and recommendations from four leading professional organizations in opinion research. By examining major sources of opinion data, focusing on the unique role of data archives and their historical interest in documenting and preserving research data, we propose a proactive extension of the archives' role to support several on-going efforts to provide clear and consistent disclosure of survey methods. Show more

Keywords: Methodology, disclosure, research methods, metadata

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2011-0340

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 19-32, 2011

Authors: Cohen, Steven B. | Ezzati-Rice, Trena M. | Zodet, Marc | Machlin, Steven | Yu, William

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is one of the core health care surveys that are a primary source for essential national healthcare utilization estimates. In 2007, the survey experienced two dominant survey design modifications: a new sample design attributable …to the sample redesign of the National Health Interview Survey, and an upgrade to the Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) platform for the survey instrument, moving from a DOS to a Windows based environment. This study examines the impact of these survey design modifications on the national health care utilization estimates. Particular attention is given to assessing the level of convergence in utilization estimates based on the alternative designs as well as the alignment of model based analyses that discern which factors are associated with health care use. The paper concludes with a discussion of strategies that may yield additional improvements in the accuracy for these policy relevant survey estimates. Show more

Keywords: Health care utilization, survey redesign, MEPS

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2011-0339

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 33-69, 2011

Authors: Handwerker, Elizabeth Weber

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: For researchers interested in the impact of income on life outcomes, the 'Social Security Notch' provides a rare source of variation in incomes not caused by these same life outcomes. This paper addresses the usefulness of this variation to researchers. …First, it demonstrates that simulated benefit levels by cohort are very significant predictors of reported benefits and total incomes for the affected cohorts in large data sources, such as the Current Population Survey. Second, it examines whether these are large enough to disentangle the impact of changes in income from underlying cohort variability in outcomes. It shows that the cohorts with higher benefits due to law changes are also observed to have higher earned incomes in retirement. Furthermore, the difference in mortality rates between affected cohorts is similar in magnitude to the gaps between other successive cohorts. These results imply that cohort variability overshadows the effects of this potential instrument. Show more

Keywords: Social Security Notch, income variability, valid instruments, cohort variability, mortality, D31, J26, J11, C36

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2011-0338

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 71-92, 2011

Authors: Quintano, Claudio | Castellano, Rosalia | Punzo, Gennaro

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Aim of this paper is to explore poverty patterns and differentials across Italian provinces for several objective dimensions of life-style deprivation according to a multidimensional and fuzzy approach. We propose a joint analysis of monetary and supplementary deprivation to point …out the extent to which the two aspects of poverty overlap for the population concerned, to look into their potential background determinants and to sketch a territorial poverty profile. Since traditional direct estimators, based on ECHP data, cannot provide adequate precision due to smallness of domain-specific sub-sample, we test Rao-Yu models, as extension of Fay-Herriot estimator, to handle time-series data. In addition to a diversity of deficiencies found throughout Italy, empirical evidence clearly emphasize higher degrees of overlap in "poorer" southern provinces and lower degrees in "richer" northern ones, justifying the implementation of different approaches to poverty measurement to identify those areas which, more than others, need structural interventions. Show more

Keywords: Manifest and latent deprivation, small area estimation, socio-economic indicators

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2011-0337

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 93-118, 2011