Imputing consumption from Norwegian income and wealth registry data

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Fagereng, Andreas | Halvorsen, Elin^*

Affiliations: Statistics Norway, Research Department, Oslo, Norway

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Elin Halvorsen,

Abstract: This paper proposes a method for computing a unique longitudinal consumption measure for the total population of Norwegian households from administrative records, covering a period of almost 20 years. Administrative data has the advantage of full population coverage, avoiding problems with attrition or underrepresentation of high-income households. This is particularly useful for improving the measurement of heterogeneity in consumption behavior, and for measuring consumption distribution and inequality. Furthermore, longitudinal micro data with full population coverage provides unique opportunities to explore the underlying developments in aggregate consumption measures over time.

Keywords: Consumption measurement, savings, household finance JEL codes: D12, D14, D31, E21, G11

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-170438

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 67-100, 2017