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Sunday, November 8, 2009
 
 
PAPERS  &  STUDIES
Measuring Labor Earnings Inequality Using Public-Use March Current Population Survey Data
The Value of Including Variances and Cell Means When Imputing Topcoded Values
 
A new procedure improves on existing imputation methods in the labor earnings inequality literature.
 
 
Visiting
Scholar Richard Burkhauser
 
Abstract

Using the Census Bureau's internal March Current Population Surveys (CPS) file, we construct and make available variances and cell means for all topcoded income values in the public-use version of these data. We then provide a procedure that allows researchers with access only to the public-use March CPS data to take advantage of this added information when imputing its topcoded income values. As an example of its value we show how our new procedure improves on existing imputation methods in the labor earnings inequality literature.

Download file Click here to view the full text of this working paper as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

Richard Burkhauser is a visiting scholar at AEI. Shuaizhang Feng is an assistant professor of economics at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Jeff Larrimore is a graduate student in economics at Cornell University.