Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/36150 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4733
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Labor market statistics are critical for assessing and understanding economic development. In practice, widespread variation exists in how labor statistics are measured in household surveys in low-income countries. Little is known whether these differences have an effect on the labor statistics they produce. This paper analyzes these effects by implementing a survey experiment in Tanzania that varied two key dimensions: the level of detail of the questions and the type of respondent. Significant differences are observed across survey designs with respect to different labor statistics. Labor force participation rates, for example, vary by as much as 10 percentage points across the four survey assignments. Using a short labor module without screening questions on employment generates lower female labor force participation and lower rates of wage employment for both men and women. Response by proxy rather than self-report yields lower male labor force participation, lower female working hours, and lower employment in agriculture for men. The differences between proxy and self reporting seem to come from information imperfections within the household, especially with the distance in age between respondent and subject playing an important role, while gender and educational differences seem less important.
Subjects: 
Labor statistics
survey design
Tanzania
field experiment
JEL: 
J21
C83
C93
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
344.52 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.