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Comparing Micro and Macro Sources for Household Accounts in the United States: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances

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Abstract

Household income, spending, and net worth are key inputs in macroeconomic forecasting and economic research. Macro-level data sources are often used to measure household accounts, but lack important information about heterogeneity across different types of households that can be found in micro-level data sources. This paper compares aggregates computed based on one micro-level data source--the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF)--with macro-level sources of information on household accounts. We find that on most measures, aggregates computed from the SCF line up well with macro-level data sources once we construct comparable series. Our results imply that researchers and policy makers can be confident in making macroeconomic inferences from household-level surveys like the SCF.

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  • Lisa J. Dettling & Sebastian Devlin-Foltz & Jacob Krimmel & Sarah Pack & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2015. "Comparing Micro and Macro Sources for Household Accounts in the United States: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-86, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2015-86
    DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2015.086
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    6. Jesse Bricker & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2014. "Does education loan debt influence household financial distress? An assessment using the 2007-09 SCF Panel," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2014-90, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
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    14. Lisa J. Dettling & Joanne W. Hsu, 2014. "The State of Young Adults’ Balance Sheets: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 96(4), pages 305-330.
    15. Dettling, Lisa J. & Hsu, Joanne W., 2018. "Returning to the nest: Debt and parental co-residence among young adults," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 225-236.
    16. Alice M. Henriques & Joanne W. Hsu, 2014. "Analysis of Wealth Using Micro- and Macrodata: A Comparison of the Survey of Consumer Finances and Flow of Funds Accounts," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Economic Sustainability and Progress, pages 245-274, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alina K. Bartscher & Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick & Ulrike I. Steins, 2020. "Modigliani Meets Minsky: Inequality, Debt, and Financial Fragility in America, 1950-2016," Staff Reports 924, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    2. Chakraborty Robin & Kavonius Ilja Kristian & Pérez-Duarte Sébastien & Vermeulen Philip, 2019. "Is the Top Tail of the Wealth Distribution the Missing Link between the Household Finance and Consumption Survey and National Accounts?," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 35(1), pages 31-65, March.
    3. Fisher, Jonathan D. & Johnson, David S. & Smeeding, Timothy M. & Thompson, Jeffrey P., 2020. "Estimating the marginal propensity to consume using the distributions of income, consumption, and wealth," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Jesse Bricker & Peter Hansen & Alice Henriques Volz, 2018. "How Much has Wealth Concentration Grown in the United States? A Re-Examination of Data from 2001-2013," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2018-024, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Brett A. Mccully & Karen M. Pence & Daniel J. Vine, 2019. "How Much Are Car Purchases Driven by Home Equity Withdrawal?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(5), pages 1403-1426, August.
    6. David Altig & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Victor Yifan Ye, 2022. "How Much Lifetime Social Security Benefits Are Americans Leaving on the Table?," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 37, pages 135-173, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Jesse Bricker & Kevin B. Moore & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2019. "Trends in household portfolio composition," Working Papers 19-9, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    8. Jesse Bricker & Geng Li, 2017. "Credit Scores, Social Capital, and Stock Market Participation," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2017-008, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    9. Neil Bhutta & Jacqueline Blair & Lisa J. Dettling, 2021. "The Smart Money is in Cash? Financial Literacy and Liquid Savings Among U.S. Families," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2021-076, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. David Altig & Alan J. Auerbach & Erin Eidschun & Laurence Kotlikoff & Victor Yifan Ye, 2024. "Inflation's Fiscal Impact on American Households," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2024, volume 39, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Michael M. Batty & Jesse Bricker & Joseph S. Briggs & Alice Henriques Volz & Elizabeth Ball Holmquist & Susan Hume McIntosh & Kevin B. Moore & Eric R. Nielsen & Sarah Reber & Molly Shatto & Kamila Som, 2019. "Introducing the Distributional Financial Accounts of the United States," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2019-017, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    12. Michael Batty & Jesse Bricker & Joseph Briggs & Sarah Friedman & Danielle Nemschoff & Eric Nielsen & Kamila Sommer & Alice Henriques Volz, 2021. "The Distributional Financial Accounts of the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Distribution and Mobility of Income and Wealth, pages 641-677, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Lisa J. Dettling & Sarena Goodman & Sarah Reber, 2022. "Saving and Wealth Accumulation among Student Loan Borrowers: Implications for Retirement Preparedness," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2022-019, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    14. Alina K. Bartscher & Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick & Ulrike I. Steins, 2020. "The Distribution of Household Debt in the United States, 1950-2019," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 015, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    15. Jesse Bricker & Alice Henriques & Jacob Krimmel & John Sabelhaus, 2016. "Estimating Top Income and Wealth Shares: Sensitivity to Data and Methods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 641-645, May.
    16. Kennickell, Arthur B., 2021. "Chasing the Tail: A Generalized Pareto Distribution Approach to Estimating Wealth Inequality," SocArXiv u3zs2, Center for Open Science.

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