Anchoring and Acquiescence Bias in Measuring Assets in Household Surveys

TitleAnchoring and Acquiescence Bias in Measuring Assets in Household Surveys
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1999
AuthorsHurd, MD
JournalJournal of Risk and Uncertainty
Volume19
Pagination111-36
Call Numberpubs_1999_Hurd_MJRiskUncert.pdf
KeywordsMethodology
Abstract

Cognitive psychology has identified and studied extensively a number of cognitive anomalies that may be important for the assessment of the economic status of individuals and households. In particular the use of brackets to elicit information about income and assets in surveys of households can interact with acquiescence bias and anchoring to cause bias in the estimates of the distributions of income and assets. This paper uses data from the Health and Retirement Study and the Asset and Health Dynamics Study to find that, as predicted by psychology, bracketing can produce bias in population estimates of assets.

Notes

ProCite field 3 : RAND, SUNY, Stony Brook, and NBER

DOI10.1023/A:1007819225602
Endnote Keywords

Microeconomic Data Management/Survey Methods

Endnote ID

1174

Citation Key6627