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Detecting Anomalous Data in Household Surveys: Evidence for Argentina

Author

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  • González Fernando Antonio Ignacio

    (Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur, UNS-CONICET.)

Abstract

This paper advances in the detection of anomalous data in income reports of Argentina. In particular, income declared by households surveyed in the Encuesta Permanente de Hogares (EPH, Permanent Household Survey in English) -for the period 2003-2017- and in the Encuesta Anual de Hogares Urbanos (EAHU, Annual Urban Household Survey in English) -for the period 2010-2014- are analyzed.A widely known technique in forensic accounting and auditing, such as Benford’s law -also known as the first digit law- is used. If the analyzed data were generated naturally-free of manipulation- it should follow the logarithmic distribution of Benford. The Chi-square test and the absolute mean deviation (MAD) are used for verification.The results suggest that the income reported in the EPH does not follow the Benford distribution and the degree of compliance with this law decreases significantly between 2007-2015 coinciding with the intervention period of the Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos (INDEC, National Institute of Statistics and Censuses in English).

Suggested Citation

  • González Fernando Antonio Ignacio, 2019. "Detecting Anomalous Data in Household Surveys: Evidence for Argentina," Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:jsesro:v:8:y:2019:i:2:p:1-10:n:1
    DOI: 10.2478/jses-2019-0001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. Henselmann, Klaus & Scherr, Elisabeth & Ditter, Dominik, 2012. "Applying Benford's Law to individual financial reports: An empirical investigation on the basis of SEC XBRL filings," Working Papers in Accounting Valuation Auditing 2012-1, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Accounting and Auditing.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income; Household surveys; Benford’s law;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Auditing
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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