IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx/j9skr.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Studying Individuals in Same-Sex Couples using Longitudinal Administrative Data from Canadian Tax Records: Opportunities and Challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Chih-lan Winnie
  • Denier, Nicole
  • St-Denis, Xavier
  • Waite, Sean

Abstract

Studies on sexual minorities’ social, demographic, and economic outcomes using survey data have long been hampered by data shortfalls, with most survey data limited by sample size or absence of direct questions on sexual orientation. Despite its increasing availability, administrative data has not been systematically utilized to fill the gaps. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of a novel administrative dataset for research on individuals in same-sex couples. Using the Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD), consisting of 20% of Canadian tax filers, we recommend strategies of adjusting for potential biases in key measures; comparing LAD estimates to Canadian Census; and introduce the measure of inferred sexual orientation given the lack of direct measure of sexual orientation in tax data. Administrative tax data has major strengths, including a large sample size, high quality income data of individuals and linked family members, and longitudinal design. However, we spotlight three issues related to the identification of same-sex couples: underreporting, misclassification, and measurement errors. We show that some biases are reduced after implementing adjustment strategies. In recent years, the estimated share of same-sex couples is close to that in the 2016 Canadian Census. We also demonstrate the usefulness of a new measure “inferred sexual orientation” by estimating sexual orientation earnings gaps. This article contributes to research on global sexual minority data landscapes and methodologies of identifying and measuring sexual minority populations in longitudinal administrative tax data.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Chih-lan Winnie & Denier, Nicole & St-Denis, Xavier & Waite, Sean, 2024. "Studying Individuals in Same-Sex Couples using Longitudinal Administrative Data from Canadian Tax Records: Opportunities and Challenges," SocArXiv j9skr, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:j9skr
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/j9skr
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/6598ba782a65608c740bf26d/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/j9skr?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rebecca DiBennardo & Gary Gates, 2014. "Research Note: US Census Same-Sex Couple Data: Adjustments to Reduce Measurement Error and Empirical Implications," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(4), pages 603-614, August.
    2. Cevat G. Aksoy & Christopher S. Carpenter & Jeff Frank, 2018. "Sexual Orientation and Earnings: New Evidence from the United Kingdom," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 71(1), pages 242-272, January.
    3. Rachel Margolis & Youjin Choi & Feng Hou & Michael Haan, 2019. "Capturing trends in Canadian divorce in an era without vital statistics," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(52), pages 1453-1478.
    4. James Alm & J. Sebastian Leguizamon & Susane Leguizamon, 2014. "Revisiting the Income Tax Effects of Legalizing Same‐Sex Marriages," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 263-289, March.
    5. Robert Andersen & Tina Fetner, 2008. "Economic Inequality and Intolerance: Attitudes toward Homosexuality in 35 Democracies," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 942-958, October.
    6. Alison Preston & Elisa Birch & Andrew R. Timming, 2019. "Sexual orientation and wage discrimination: evidence from Australia," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(6), pages 629-648, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tampellini, João, 2024. "Latin American pride: Labor market outcomes of sexual minorities in Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    2. Drydakis, Nick, 2021. "The Economics of Being LGBT. A Review: 2015-2020," IZA Discussion Papers 14845, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Goodnature, Mia & Neto, Amir Borges Ferreira, 2021. "Same-Sex Unmarried Partners in the Census," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 51(1), April.
    4. Nick Drydakis, 2022. "Sexual orientation and earnings: a meta-analysis 2012–2020," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 409-440, April.
    5. Michael E. Martell & Peyton Nash, 2020. "For Love and Money? Earnings and Marriage Among Same-Sex Couples," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 260-294, September.
    6. Niclas Berggren & Mikael Elinder, 2012. "Is tolerance good or bad for growth?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 283-308, January.
    7. Niclas Berggren & Therese Nilsson, 2013. "Does Economic Freedom Foster Tolerance?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 177-207, May.
    8. Jan Gromadzki & Honorata Bogusz, 2024. "Labor Market Outcomes of Same-Sex Couples in Countries with Legalized Same-Sex Marriage," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp360, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    9. Berggren, Niclas & Nilsson, Therese, 2016. "Tolerance in the United States: Does economic freedom transform racial, religious, political and sexual attitudes?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 53-70.
    10. Baranov, Victoria & de Haas, Ralph & Grosjean, Pauline, 2018. "Men. Roots and Consequences of Masculinity Norms," Other publications TiSEM 6fa57f55-71bb-42c4-8cc4-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Badgett, M.V. Lee & Waaldijk, Kees & Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen, 2019. "The relationship between LGBT inclusion and economic development: Macro-level evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 1-14.
    12. Berggren, Niclas & Ljunge, Martin & Nilsson, Therese, 2019. "Roots of tolerance among second-generation immigrants," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(6), pages 999-1016, December.
    13. Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Carpenter, Christopher S. & Frank, Jeff & Huffman, Matt L., 2019. "Gay glass ceilings: Sexual orientation and workplace authority in the UK," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 167-180.
    14. Tessa van de Rozenberg & Peer Scheepers, 2022. "Rejection of equal adoption rights for same‐sex couples across European countries: Socializing influences on the national level and cross‐national interactions," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(2), pages 274-293, March.
    15. Aksoy, Cevat G. & Carpenter, Christopher S. & De Haas, Ralph & Tran, Kevin D., 2020. "Do laws shape attitudes? Evidence from same-sex relationship recognition policies in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    16. Jepsen, Christopher & Jepsen, Lisa, 2022. "Convergence over time or not? U.S. wages by sexual orientation, 2000–2019," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    17. Justin Denney & Bridget Gorman, 2014. "Introduction: Population Perspectives on Sexual Minorities," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(4), pages 479-484, August.
    18. John Levendis & Aaron Lowen, 2023. "What Same-Sex Adoption Laws Can Tell Us About the Gender Wage Gap in the United States," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 473-489, June.
    19. Giulia M. Dotti Sani & Mario Quaranta, 2020. "Let Them Be, Not Adopt: General Attitudes Towards Gays and Lesbians and Specific Attitudes Towards Adoption by Same-Sex Couples in 22 European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 351-373, July.
    20. Berggren, Niclas & Nilsson, Therese, 2015. "Globalization and the transmission of social values: The case of tolerance," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 371-389.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:j9skr. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://arabixiv.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.