Mode and Context Effects of Measuring Household Assets

Differences in answers in Internet and traditional surveys can be due to selection, mode, or context effects. We exploit unique experimental data to analyze mode and context effects controlling for arbitrary selection. The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) surveys a random sample of the US 50+ population, with CAPI or CATI core interviews once every two years. In 2003 and 2005, random samples were drawn from HRS respondents in 2002 and 2004 willing and able to participate in an Internet interview. Comparing core and Internet survey answers of the same people, we analyze mode and context effects, controlling for selection. We focus on household assets, for which mode effects in Internet surveys have rarely been studied. We find some large differences between the first Internet survey and the other three surveys which we interpret as a context and question wording effect rather than a pure mode effect.Internet surveys;CAPI;CATI;portfolio choice

Intertemporal Consumption with Directly Measured Welfare Functions and Subjective Expectations

Euler equation estimation of intertemporal consumption models requires many, often unverifiable assumptions. These include assumptions on expectations and preferences. We aim at reducing some of these requirements by using direct subjective information on respondents’ preferences and expectations. The results suggest that individually measured welfare functions and expectations have predictive power for the variation in consumption across households. Furthermore, estimates of the intertemporal elasticity of substitution based on the estimated welfare functions are plausible and of a similar order of magnitude as other estimates found in the literature. The model favored by the data only requires cross-section data for estimation.Expectations;Consumption;Euler equations

Explaining subjective well-being: The role of victimization, trust, health, and social norms

This paper extends research on the relation between crime and happiness by investigating the impact of serious and less serious crime (i.e. incorrect behavior) on subjective well-being using a representative survey of the Dutch adult population in 2008. We also control for variables reflecting trust, health and social norms, in addition to standard demographic and socio-economic characteristics. We find that people who feel healthy, have more trust in others and have higher social norms are in general happier. We find evidence of an indirect effect of victimization on well-being via trust, health and social norms. The remaining effect of victimization on well-being, keeping trust, social norms, and health constant, is quite weak

Tax Structure and Female Labour Market Participation: Evidence from Ireland. ESRI WP208. September 2007

How great an effect does the structure of income taxes have on women’s labour market participation? This issue is investigated using a discrete choice static labour supply model for married couples in Ireland. The model incorporates fixed costs of working and simultaneously explains participation decisions and preferred hours of work. Details of the tax system are fully incorporated, and key elements of the welfare system are also taken into account. The model is estimated using data from the 1994 wave of the Living in Ireland Survey. The results are used to analyse the labour supply effects of a move to greater independence in the tax treatment of couples. The influence of tax structure on participation is reconsidered in the light of trends in women’s participation in the labour market and two key changes in the structure of taxation: a shift from a joint or aggregated basis of assessment to an “income-splitting” system in 1980 and a further substantial shift from income-splitting towards greater independence from 2000 onwards

An Analysis of Ratings of Russian Banks

Since the recent financial crisis, both the Russian business community and foreign investors have started to make more and more use of ratings of the reliability of Russian banks, i.e., their ability to meet interest and repayment commitments to the investors.In response to this, the number of rating agencies has increased over the past few years.In this paper, existing ratings are analyzed and compared using ordered probit models that explain bank ratings from bank characteristics such as size indicators and financial ratios characterizing profitability, or default risk on loans given.Moreover, on the basis of a survey among financial experts, models for expert ratings are constructed and results are compared to those for the agency ratings.We find that agency and expert ratings of virtual banks are largely in line with each other, but there are also some differences.For example, liquidity measures are important for agency ratings but insignificant for the expert ratings.Moreover, we find some surprising differences between expert ratings of real banks and expert ratings of virtual banks.While overdue loans are important for the virtual banks, they play no role in either the agency ratings or the expert ratings of real banks.An explanation may be that banks manage to mask the actual number of overdue loans.