Mind the gap measuring consumption and income from household surveys and national accounts data

A new GLO Discussion Paper finds substantial and rising gaps in the measurement of consumption and income based on household surveys and national accounts data.


GLO Discussion Paper No. 944, 2021

Mind the Gap Download PDF
by Prydz, Espen Beer & Jolliffe, Dean & Serajuddin, Umar

GLO Fellow Dean Jolliffe

Author Abstract: Estimates of average per capita consumption and income from national accounts differ substantially from corresponding measures of consumption and income from household surveys. Using a new compilation of more than 2,000 household surveys matched to national accounts data, we find that the gaps between the data sources are larger and more robust than previously established. Means of household consumption estimated from surveys are, on average, 20 percent lower than corresponding means from national accounts. The gap with GDP per capita is nearly 50 percent. The gaps have increased in recent decades and are largest in middle-income countries, where annualized growth rates for consumption surveys are systematically lower than national accounts growth rates. We show that the gaps in measures across these two sources have implications for assessments of economic growth, poverty, and inequality. We find that typical survey measures of consumption and income may exaggerate poverty reduction and underestimate inequality.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers)Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

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Happiness in the Lab: What Can Be Learned about Subjective Well-Being from Experiments?

A new GLO Discussion Paper explores the important contributions that happiness-in-the-lab experiments can make to the debates about stylized facts by testing the causality of the relationships.


GLO Discussion Paper No. 943, 2021

Happiness in the Lab: What Can Be Learned about Subjective Well-Being from Experiments? Download PDF
by Ifcher, John & Zarghamee, Homa & Goff, Sandra H.

GLO Fellow John Ifcher

Author Abstract: The recent surge in analyses of subjective well-being (SWB) and the economics of happiness using large observational datasets has generated stylized facts about the relationship between SWB and various correlates. Because such studies are mostly concerned with the determinants of SWB, the modeling utilized assumes SWB to be the dependent variable. Often, selection effects, reverse causality, and omitted variable bias cannot adequately be controlled for, calling many of the stylized facts into question. This chapter explores the important contributions that happiness-in-the-lab experiments can make to the debates about stylized facts by testing the causality of the relationship between SWB and its correlates. A distinction is made between happiness-in-the-lab experiments in which SWB is a dependent versus independent variable, and methods for both types of experiments are discussed, along with a discussion of the limitations inherent in such experiments. The extant happiness-in-the-lab literature is reviewed and future directions for happiness-in the-lab research are proposed. The important role that happiness-inthe- lab experiments can play in the development of national SWB accounting is emphasized.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers)Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

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Return migrants and the wage premium: does the legal status of migrants matter?

A new paper published ONLINE FIRST finds that, upon return, undocumented migrants experience a wage penalty compared with documented migrants, as well as relative to non-migrants.

Return migrants and the wage premium: does the legal status of migrants matter?

by GLO Fellows Nelly Elmallakh and Jackline Wahba

Published ONLINE FIRST 2021: Journal of Population Economics
OPEN ACCESS PDF

Jackline Wahba
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 002-Cover-Page-JPopEa.jpg

Author Abstract: This paper examines the impact of the legal status of overseas migrants on their wages upon return to the home country. Using unique data from Egypt, which allows us to distinguish between return migrants according to whether their international migration was documented or undocumented, we examine the impact of illegal status on wages upon return. Relying on a Conditional Mixed Process model, which takes into account the selection into emigration, into return, and into the legal status of temporary migration, we find that, upon return, undocumented migrants experience a wage penalty compared with documented migrants, as well as relative to non-migrants. Our results are the first to show the impact of undocumented migration on the migrant upon return to the country of origin.

Number of submissions, 2010-2020
EiC Report 2020

SSCI IMPACT FACTOR 2.813 (2020) from 1.840 (2019) & 1.253 (2018)
SSCI 5-Year Impact Factor 3.318 (2020) from 2.353 (2019) & 2.072 (2018)


Journal of Population Economics
Access to the recently published Volume 34, Issue 4, July 2021. 10 articles on Covid-19 all freely accessible.

LEAD ARTICLE OF ISSUE 4, 2021:
The impact of repeated mass antigen testing for COVID-19 on the prevalence of the disease
by Martin Kahanec, Lukáš Lafférs & Bernhard Schmidpeter

OPEN ACCESS: Free ReadlinkDownload PDF

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

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Robots for Economic Development

A new GLO Discussion Paper shows significant productivity and employment gains from automation in Indonesian manufacturing.


GLO Discussion Paper No. 942, 2021

Robots For Economic Development Download PDF
by Calì, Massimiliano & Presidente, Giorgio

GLO Fellow Giorgio Presidente

Author Abstract: Recent evidence suggests that automation technologies entail a trade-off between productivity gains and employment losses for the economies that adopt them. This paper casts doubts on this trade-off in the context of a developing country. It shows significant productivity and employment gains from automation in Indonesian manufacturing during the years 2008-2015, a period of rapid increase in robot imports. Analysis based on manufacturing plant data provides evidence of two plausible reasons for the absence of this trade-off. First, it documents the presence of diminishing productivity returns to robot adoption. As a result, the benefits from automation could be particularly large for countries at early stages of adoption, such as Indonesia. Second, the analysis finds significant positive employment spillovers from automation in downstream plants. Such effects are likely larger in countries such as Indonesia, where the foreign content of manufacturing production is low. Suggestive evidence indicates such results could apply to developing countries more generally.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers)Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

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Institutions, Holdup and Automation

A new GLO Discussion Paper documents a positive relationship between labor-friendly institutions and investment in industrial robots.



GLO Discussion Paper No. 941, 2021

Institutions, Holdup and Automation Download PDF
by Presidente, Giorgio

GLO Fellow Giorgio Presidente

Author Abstract: What drives investment in automation technologies? This paper documents a positive relationship between labor-friendly institutions and investment in industrial robots in a sample of developing and advanced economies. Institutions explain a substantial share of cross-country variation in automation. The relationship between institutions and robots is stronger in sunk cost-intensive industries, where producers are vulnerable to holdup. The result suggests that one reason for producers to invest in automation is to thwart rent appropriation by labor. As a consequence, policies aimed at supporting workers’ welfare by increasing their bargaining power might actually reduce their employment opportunities.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers)Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

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Globalization, Political Regimes and the Covid-19 Pandemic

Klaus F. Zimmermann (GLO & UNU-MERIT) will speak on 12 October 2021 in an online talk at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam Hanoi as part of the JABES Seminar Talks on Globalization, Political Regimes and the Covid-19 Pandemic. He will draw on his recent studies in the field and explore the challenges for economic research from the pandemic.

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37th EBES “Berlin” Conference in collaboration with FOM University and GLO, October 6-8, 2021. Impressions of Day TWO with videos of the sessions.

The 37th EBES Conference takes place online on October 6-8 2021. GLO is a co-organizing partner, and FOM University of Applied Sciences is the local host supporting the event from Berlin. EBES, the Eurasia Business and Economics Society, and FOM University of Applied Sciences are strategic partners and institutional supporters of GLO.

Day TWO (October 7) saw next to 9 parallel research paper sessions a Special FOM-GLO Session and the GLO Handbook Session Migration I. The highlight plenary Speech of the Day was delivered by Sriya Iyer (University of Cambridge and GLO) on Religion and Mental Health chaired by Olga Popova (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, CERGE-EI & GLO), who is also the GLO Research Cluster Lead “Religion”. The EBES 37 Plenary Speech was this time joint with the monthly GLO Virtual Research Seminar normally chaired by GLO Director Matloob Piracha.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM WITH PARTICIPATION DETAILS: LINK

https://ebesweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/37th-EBES-Conference-Program_2021.pdf

General inquiries: ebes@ebesweb.org

Some pictures from the event and an overview of the GLO-related contributions on the day can be found below:

GLO supported program parts on October 7:

TIME STRUCTURE (All CET Berlin time)

Thursday, October 7:

9.00-11.00. FOM-GLO Session
Chair: Alexander Spermann (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Freiburg University and GLO)

VIDEO of the session

  • Monika Wohlmann (FOM University of Applied Science): The European Central Bank’s Strategy Review and the Management of Inflation Expectations
  • Sascha Frohwerk (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Hasso-Plattner-Institute, Potsdam and GLO): Retail Location Choice Models. A Comparison of Gravitation and Logit Model
  • Andreas Oberheitmann  (Tsinghua University, FOM and GLO): Development of a Low Carbon Economy in Wuxi City. An Example of Climate Change Mitigation in China on the Local Level.
  • Michael Drewes (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim) and  Luca Rebeggiani (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Bonn): Private vs. Public Financing of Sport Stadia in Germany – An Empirical Analysis.
  • Sascha Frohwerk (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Hasso-Plattner-Institute, Potsdam and GLO), Carsten Kruppe and Holger Wassermann: Evolution or Revolution: The Entry of New Company Successors in Germany
  • Kai Klotz and Alexander Spermann (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Freiburg  University and GLO): Did the Refugee Crisis Cause the Rise of Right-wing Parties? Empirical Evidence from East Germany.

14.00-15.00. Plenary Speech joint with the monthly GLO Seminar
Sriya Iyer (University of Cambridge and GLO):
Religion and Mental Health
Chair: Olga Popova (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, CERGE-EI & GLO)

Note: The session relates to the Springer Nature Handbook project “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” supported by the GLO network.

VIDEO of the session.

Olga Popova, Session Chair & GLO Research Cluster Lead “Religion”

Sriya Iyer (University of Cambridge and GLO)

15.15 – 17.15. GLO Session Migration I
Chair: Cynthia Bansak (St. Lawrence University & GLO)

Note: The session relates to the Springer Nature Handbook project “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” supported by the GLO network.

VIDEO of the session.

  • Chunbei Wang (University of Oklahoma & GLO) & Magnus Lofstrom (Public Policy Institute of California & GLO): Immigrant Entrepreneurs
  • Sonia Plaza (World Bank & GLO): Measuring Migration
  • Davit Adunts (CERGE-EI) & Mariola Pytlikova (CERGE-EI & GLO): Migration Determinants
  • Massimiliano Tani (University of New South Wales & GLO) & Matloob Piracha (University of Kent & GLO): Migration and Education
  • Cinzia Rienzo ( University of Brighton & GLO): Performance of Economic Migrants
  • Cynthia A. Bansak (St. Lawrence University & GLO), Nicole Simpson (Colgate University & GLO) and Madeline Zavodny (University of North Florida & GLO): Immigrants and Their Effects on Labor Market Outcomes of Natives

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37th EBES “Berlin” Conference in collaboration with FOM University and GLO, October 6-8, 2021. Impressions of Day ONE and further program.

The 37th EBES Conference takes place online on October 6-8 2021. GLO is a co-organizing partner, and FOM University of Applied Sciences is the local host supporting the event from Berlin. EBES, the Eurasia Business and Economics Society, and FOM University of Applied Sciences are strategic partners and institutional supporters of GLO.

Day ONE (October 6) saw opening speeches and lectures, intense parallel sessions, the conference keynote speech, and the EBES Journals session. EBES and GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann spoke about The Future of Global Mobility. The Keynote Speech was provided by GLO Research Director David G. Blanchflower on The Economics of Walking About and Predicting Unemployment. (For the video of the Blanchflower keynote see LINK below.)

CONFERENCE PROGRAM WITH PARTICIPATION DETAILS: LINK

https://ebesweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/37th-EBES-Conference-Program_2021.pdf

General inquiries: ebes@ebesweb.org

Some pictures form the event and an overview of the GLO-related contributions can be found below:

GLO supported program parts:

TIME STRUCTURE (All CET Berlin time)

Wednesday, October 6:

9.00 – 9.45. Welcome Speeches: Mehmet Bilgin (EBES & GLO), Manuela Zipperling (FOM & GLO), and Azita Berar Awad (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, & GLO)
Opening Lecture: Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Free University Berlin & GLO)
The Future of Global Mobility
Chair: Mehmet Bilgin (Istanbul Medeniyet University, EBES & GLO)

Head of FOM Berlin, Manuela Zipperling
GLO Policy Director Azita Berar Awad

15.15-16.15. Keynote Speech
David G. Blanchflower (Dartmouth College & GLO)
The Economics of Walking About and Predicting Unemployment
Chair: Matloob Piracha (University of Kent & GLO)

Background: GLO Discussion Paper No. 992 LINK to VIDEO

Matloob Piracha, David G. Blanchflower and Klaus F. Zimmermann (from the left)

GLO Research Director David G. Blanchflower

16.30-17.15. EBES Journals Session
Chair: Klaus F. Zimmermann (EBES President & GLO) with Dorothea Schäfer (DIW Berlin, Jönköping University & GLO), Editor-in-Chief of Eurasian Economic Review, and Marco Vivarelli (Catholic University of Milano & GLO), Editor-in-Chief of the Eurasian Business Review.

Thursday, October 7:

 9.00-11.00. FOM-GLO Session
Chair: Alexander Spermann (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Freiburg University and GLO)

  • Monika Wohlmann (FOM University of Applied Science): The European Central Bank’s Strategy Review and the Management of Inflation Expectations
  • Sascha Frohwerk (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Hasso-Plattner-Institute, Potsdam and GLO): Retail Location Choice Models. A Comparison of Gravitation and Logit Model
  • Andreas Oberheitmann  (Tsinghua University, FOM and GLO): Development of a Low Carbon Economy in Wuxi City. An Example of Climate Change Mitigation in China on the Local Level.
  • Michael Drewes (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim) and  Luca Rebeggiani (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Bonn): Private vs. Public Financing of Sport Stadia in Germany – An Empirical Analysis.
  • Sascha Frohwerk (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Hasso-Plattner-Institute, Potsdam and GLO), Carsten Kruppe and Holger Wassermann: Evolution or Revolution: The Entry of New Company Successors in Germany
  • Kai Klotz and Alexander Spermann (FOM University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Freiburg  University and GLO): Did the Refugee Crisis Cause the Rise of Right-wing Parties? Empirical Evidence from East Germany.

14.00-15.00. Plenary Speech joint with the monthly GLO Seminar
Sriya Iyer (University of Cambridge and GLO):
Religion and Mental Health
Chair: Olga Popova (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, CERGE-EI & GLO)

Note: The session relates to the Springer Nature Handbook project “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” supported by the GLO network.

15.15 – 17.15. GLO Session Migration I
Chair: Cynthia Bansak (St. Lawrence University & GLO)

Note: The session relates to the Springer Nature Handbook project “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” supported by the GLO network.

  • Sonia Plaza (World Bank & GLO): Measuring Migration
  • Davit Adunts (CERGE-EI) & Mariola Pytlikova (CERGE-EI & GLO): Migration Determinants
  • Massimiliano Tani (University of New South Wales & GLO) & Matloob Piracha (University of Kent & GLO): Migration and Education
  • Cinzia Rienzo ( University of Brighton & GLO): Performance of Economic Migrants
  • Cynthia A. Bansak (St. Lawrence University & GLO), Nicole Simpson (Colgate University & GLO) and Madeline Zavodny (University of North Florida & GLO): Immigrants and Their Effects on Labor Market Outcomes of Natives
  • Chunbei Wang (University of Oklahoma & GLO) & Magnus Lofstrom (Public Policy Institute of California & GLO): Immigrant Entrepreneurs

Friday, October 8:

14.15 – 16.15. GLO Session Family & Household Economics
Chair: Victoria Vernon (SUNY Empire State College & GLO)

Note: The session relates to the Springer Nature Handbook project “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” supported by the GLO network.

  • Effrosyni Adamopoulou (University of Mannheim & GLO): Infidelity
  • Sandrine Mesplé-Somps (Université Paris-Dauphine & GLO): Female Genital Mutilation
  • Juan Carlos Campaña (Antonio de Nebrija University), José Ignacio Giménez-Nadal (University of Zaragoza) & José Alberto Molina (University of Zaragoza & GLO): Time-Use Surveys
  • Benjamin Scharadin (Colby College): Household Food Expenditures and Diet Quality
  • Daniel Fernandez-Kranz (IE Business School, Madrid) & Jennifer Roff (Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY): Child Custody Laws and Household Outcomes
  • Irene Mosca (Maynooth University & GLO) and Robert E. Wright (University of Glasgow & GLO): Economics of Marriage Bars

16.30 – 18.30. GLO Session Migration II
Chair: Marina Murat (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia & GLO)

Note: The session relates to the Springer Nature Handbook project “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” supported by the GLO network.

  • Jakub Lonsky (University of Liverpool & GLO) & Osea Giuntella (University of Pittsburgh & GLO): Migrant Health and Wellbeing
  • Kusum Mundra (Rutgers University & GLO): The Political Economy of Citizenship
  • Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes (University of California & GLO), Anna Marie Kietzerow (Western Michigan University) & Susan Pozo (Western Michigan University): Naturalization, Citizenship, and Identity Documents
  • Stefanija Veljanoska (University of Rennes) & Frederic Docquier (LISER & GLO): Brain Drain or Gain
  • Amelie Constant (Princeton University & GLO): Time-Space Dynamics of Return and Circular Migration
  • Michele Tuccio (Université Paris-Dauphine & GLO) & Jackline Wahba (University of Southampton & GLO): Social Remittances

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Berlin Consultations

October 5, 2021. Smelling change. Various media and political contacts in Berlin. First trip to the city since the pandemic.

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A contribution to the theory of R&D investments

A new GLO Discussion Paper suggests that introducing public subsidies aimed at favoring R&D disclosure represents a win-win result for firms and society.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 940, 2021

A contribution to the theory of R&D investments Download PDF
by Buccella, Domenico & Fanti, Luciano & Gori, Luca

GLO Fellow Luca Gori

Author Abstract: This research contributes to the theory of cost-reducing R&D investments by offering a tractable three-stage non-cooperative Cournot duopoly game in which R&D-investing firms choose whether to disclose R&D-related information to the rival. Though in a noncooperative context firms have no incentive to unilaterally disclose information on their costreducing R&D activity to prevent the rival from freely appropriate it, this work shows that there is room for the government to design an optimal policy aimed at incentivising unilaterally each owner towards R&D disclosure. Under this welfare improving policy, sharing R&D-related information becomes a Pareto efficient Nash equilibrium strategy of selfish firms. These findings suggest that introducing public subsidies aimed at favouring R&D disclosure represents a win-win result, eliminating the so far established – and unpleasant for both firms and society – non-disclosing outcome.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers)Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

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