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On the reliability of retrospective unemployment information in European household panel data

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  • Tomi Kyyrä
  • Ralf Wilke

Abstract

The retrospectively recalled calendar of activities in the European Community Household Panel is a prime resource for cross-country analysis of unemployment experience. We investigate the reliability of these data and find that 26 % of unemployed respondents misreported retrospectively their unemployment status in the subsequent interview. We observe large differences across countries: While the conditional probability of consistent information is 96 % in the UK, it is just 51 % in Greece for a comparable individual. By analyzing long-term unemployment and unemployment persistence, we show that the results of cross-country comparisons are strongly affected by these data problems. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

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  • Tomi Kyyrä & Ralf Wilke, 2014. "On the reliability of retrospective unemployment information in European household panel data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 1473-1493, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:46:y:2014:i:4:p:1473-1493
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-013-0718-1
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    2. Eerola, Essi & Lyytikäinen, Teemu, 2015. "On the role of public price information in housing markets," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 74-84.

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    Keywords

    Recall error; Unemployment; ECHP; C81; C83; J64;
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