The Insights and Illusions of Consumption Measurements

Although household well-being is anchored in long-term average rates of consumption, welfare comparisons typically rely on shorter-duration survey measurements. This paper develops a new strategy to identify the distribution of these long-term rates by leveraging a large-scale randomization that elicited repeated short-duration measurements from diaries and recall questions. Identification stems from diary-recall differences in reports from the same household, does not require these reports to be error-free, and hinges on a research design with broad replicability. This strategy delivers cost-effective suggestions for designing survey modules to yield the most accurate measurements of consumption well-being, and offers new insights for interpreting and reconciling diary-recall differences in household expenditure surveys.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Battistin, Erich, De Nadai, Michele, Krishnan, Nandini
Format:	Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2020-05
Subjects:	HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION, HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE SURVEYS, INEQUALITY, POVERTY, HOUSEHOLD WELFARE, HOUSEHOLD WELL-BEING, DATA COLLECTION,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/859711590085498228/The-Insights-and-Illusions-of-Consumption-Measurements https://hdl.handle.net/10986/33818
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