|
Abstract:
|
The American Community Survey has become one of the most important sources of information on the economic well-being of the American people. The US Census Bureau has an interest in maximizing the usefulness of the survey while minimizing the burden on respondents. This project furthers this effort by examining whether administrative records from the IRScould be used to replace, supplement or expand the scope of the income questions asked on the ACS. To do this, we incorporate detailed tax data, allowing us to analyze the ACS income questions in further depth than has been possible before. In particular, we are able to link individual responses to questions on wages; self-employment and other pass through income; interest, dividend, rental and retirement income to detailed information from their 1040 tax returns and information returns. For each income question, we are able to explore survey misreporting, and to carefully analyze how these patterns of misreporting vary across income types and subpopulations. Using this detailed data, as well as other administrative records on, we explore these records could allow for the production of new blended data products.
|
