Journal of Economic and Social Measurement - Volume 21, issue 3

Authors: Westaway, A.J. | Fleming, M.C.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Two aspects of the methodology for constructing index numbers of average earnings are investigated using data for the UK. Although trends in average earnings reflect changes in both industrial structure and the composition of the labour force, it is common …to compute indices which ignore compositional changes other than those at the industrial level (as in the UK). First, this article examines the effect of standardising at both levels using UK data for the period 1971–92. Secondly, it considers the practical significance of using alternative index number formulae which possess certain desirable properties. It is concluded that the official series is subject to unnecessary error components which result in a non-negligible upward bias. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1995-21301

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 163-185, 1995

Authors: Carlson, Barbara Lepidus | Kemper, Peter | Murtaugh, Christopher M.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper describes the methodology used in selecting and reweighting discharge level data from the 1985 National Nursing Home Survey so that it represents a sample of decedents who used nursing homes sometime during their lives. Such a strategy allows …for the analysis of lifetime nursing home use and financing with a level of information that previously was not available. Adjustments to the existing weight included those for unit nonresponse, multiple probabilities of selection, and differential follow-up periods, as well as a ratio adjustment to bring the distribution of nursing home users with and without use in the last year of life in line with an external distribution from the 1986 National Mortality Followback Survey. A comparison of weighted estimates is made between the reweighted Nursing Home Survey data and the Mortality Followback data. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1995-21302

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 187-211, 1995

Authors: Devine, Theresa J.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper examines several problems that one faces when using self-employment earnings data from the Annual Demographic Files for the 1976–91 March CPS, including: (i) variation in earnings definitions across different classes of workers (wage-and-salary, unincorporated self-employed, and incorporated …self-employed workers), (ii) changes in earnings definitions between years, (iii) relatively high nonresponse rates for the self-employed (about 30 percent, versus 17–19 percent for wage-and-salary workers), and (iv) inaccurate coding of earnings imputation flags in the public use files. In short, the evidence presented here suggests that how one handles each of these problems can have a significant effect on estimates of the returns to time spent self-employed. The author thanks John Coder, Enrique Lamas, Chuck Nelson, and Ed Welnaik for their willingness to answer her long list of questions about Census procedures, and Joyce Mlakar, John Morgan, and Amy Pavelko for their help in sorting out the tax code. Support from the Census Research Fellow Program and the National Science Foundation (SES 90–23–776 and SES 90–103–07) is gratefully acknowledged. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1995-21303

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 213-251, 1995