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AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv
Published in: AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv 3-4/2013

01-12-2013 | Originalveröffentlichung

Compiling a harmonized database from Germany’s 1978 to 2003 sample surveys of income and expenditure

Authors: Timm Bönke, Carsten Schröder, Clive Werdt

Published in: AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv | Issue 3-4/2013

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Abstract

We outline a procedure for unifying various cross sections of the German Sample Survey of Income and Expenditure in a pooled database, and discuss potential pitfalls of such a venture. Particularly, we investigate the consequences of a major break in the survey design for inter-temporal comparability of expenditure distributions: a reduction of the surveying period from twelve to three month taking place between the census years 1993 and 1998. We demonstrate that the shortened survey period impacts the commodity-specific expenditure distributions differently, and that different commodity-specific purchase frequencies are a likely explanation. Moreover, we suggest and empirically assess the suitability of several conversion procedures to ensure comparability of the expenditure distributions before and after the shortening of the surveying period.
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Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Footnotes
1
For applications of the data, see, for example, Becker and Hauser (1994, 1996), Faik and Schlomann (1997), Hauser (1999), German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (2008), Bönke et al. (2010) and references cited therein.
 
2
A thorough overview of the methodological changes in year 1998—including a new weighting procedure—is provided in Kühnen (2001).
 
3
See Becker et al. (2002) for details.
 
4
For an overview of the differences in the IES survey design before and after year 1998 see Kühnen (2001).
 
5
The Federal Statistical Office provides different IES data releases. Therefore, sample design and content may differ, especially variable names. We always refer to the Scientific Use File drawn as 80 % sample of the original IES database in the respective survey year.
 
6
We are indebted to colleagues at the German Federal Statistical Office for their most valuable support.
 
7
Methods to construct the weighting factors have changed over time. See Kühnen (2001) for details.
 
8
Before 1998, expenditures are reported monthly or annually. From 1998 and on, expenditure is always reported per quarter and is left unaltered.
 
9
For all expenditure categories, year 2005 serves as the reference year with all prices equal to 100, which is used for an incorporation of the inflation rate into the conversion strategies. IES expenditure variables which cannot be assigned to one of the twelve expenditure categories are summarized in Table 7 in the Appendix. For some categories, the IES provides quantities (i.e. kilograms of fossil and liters of liquid fuels in a household’s possession) next to monetary amounts.
 
10
Information is provided for the first seven household members at most even if household size exceeds seven members.
 
11
Table 6 summarizes the consumer prices for different commodity categories for the period 1973 to 2008.
 
12
Of course, other conceivable strategies exist. The suggested evaluation strategy can accommodate all conceivable strategies, though.
 
13
Regarding sampling weights there is no “right” strategy. The weighting procedure has changed and if the researcher is interested in the distribution of the unaltered data, one should refrain from using weights. However, due to their construction, weights control for disproportional sample selection probabilities and, therefore, weighting leads to a more homogeneous distribution of household characteristics over time and gives further insights. Ideally, weighting and non-weighting will lead to equal results.
 
14
The weighting of the statistical measures is ad hoc and serves as an example how the researcher might construct such an index. Of course, the weights reflect individual judgments.
 
Literature
Becker I, Hauser R (1994) Die Entwicklung der Einkommensverteilung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in den siebziger und achtziger Jahren. 3. EVS-Projekt. Institut für VWL, Frankfurt/Main
Becker I, Hauser R (1996) Einkommensverteilung und Armut in Deutschland von 1962 bis 1995. EVS-Projekt. Institut für VWL, Frankfurt/Main
Becker I, Frick JR, Grabka MM, Hauser R, Krause P, Wagner GG (2002) A comparison of the main household income surveys for Germany: EVS and SOEP. In: Hauser R, Becker I (eds) Reporting on income distribution and poverty. perspectives from a German and European point of view. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 55–90
Bönke T, Schulte K, Schröder C (2010) Incomes and inequality in the long run: the case of German elderly. Ger Econ Rev 11:487–510 CrossRef
Faik J, Schlomann H (1997) Die Entwicklung der Vermögensverteilung in Deutschland. In: Huster E-U (ed) Reichtum in Deutschland: Die Gewinner der sozialen Polarisierung. Campus, Frankfurt/Main, pp 89–126
German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (2008) Der 3. Armuts- und Reichtumsbericht der Bundesregierung, Berlin
Hauser R (1999) Personelle Primär- und Sekundärverteilung der Einkommen unter dem Einfluss sich ändernder wirtschaftlicher und politischer Rahmenbedingungen. Eine empirische Analyse auf der Basis der Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichproben 1973–1993. Allg Stat Arch 83:88–110
Kühnen C (2001) Das Stichprobenverfahren der Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe 1998. Methodenberichte, Heft 1. Statistisches Bundesamt, Wiesbaden
Metadata
Title
Compiling a harmonized database from Germany’s 1978 to 2003 sample surveys of income and expenditure
Authors
Timm Bönke
Carsten Schröder
Clive Werdt
Publication date
01-12-2013
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv / Issue 3-4/2013
Print ISSN: 1863-8155
Electronic ISSN: 1863-8163
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11943-013-0134-1