The insights and illusions of consumption measurements

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Battistin, Erich; De Nadai, Michele; Krishnan, Nandini
• 署名单位: University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; University of Milan; The World Bank
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102991
• 发表日期: 2023
• 关键词: household surveys; Measurement of inequality and poverty; Modes of data collection

摘要

While household well-being derives from long-term average rates of consumption, welfare estimates rely on shorter-duration survey measurements. We develop a strategy to identify the distribution of these long-term rates by leveraging a large-scale randomization that elicited repeated short-duration measurements from diaries and recall questions. Identification stems from diary-recall differences in reports from the same household, does not require reports to be error-free, and hinges on a research design with broad replicability. Our strategy delivers practical and cost-effective suggestions for designing survey modules to yield the closest measurements of household well-being. We find little empirical support for the claim that acquisition diaries yield the most accurate measurement of poverty and inequality and offer new insights to interpret and reconcile diary-recall differences in household surveys.