Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/325496 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
Deutsche Bundesbank Discussion Paper No. 22/2025
Publisher: 
Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt a. M.
Abstract: 
This paper examines whether the rounding of survey responses in the case of probabilistic question formats is related to expectation uncertainty. Using data from a survey on macroeconomic expectations of private households in Germany, we analyze self-reported reasons for rounding probabilistic inflation expectations. Although rounding is correlated with expectation uncertainty, only 14 percent of respondents explicitly attribute rounding to uncertainty. Most households round to simplify responses or because rounded values reflect their true expectations. Regression analyses do not find significant differences in uncertainty between these groups. The findings suggest caution in interpreting rounding in such settings as a measure of uncertainty and highlight the need for further research on the cognitive mechanisms behind rounding in expectation surveys.
Subjects: 
uncertainty
rounding
survey data
inflation expectations
JEL: 
C18
C83
D84
E31
ISBN: 
978-3-98848-043-9
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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