Consistency between household-level consumption data from registers and surveys - Working Paper - No. 131

Oct 3, 2026

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We explore the consistency at household-level between register-imputed and survey-based consumption figures for Denmark over the period 2002-15. Furthermore, we analyse the differences between consumption functions estimated on the basis of the two types of microdata. We find close alignment in median and mean consumption for the same households, and no significant differences in marginal propensities to consume across pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis periods near the median income. Overall, register-based microdata offer an attractive low-cost alternative to surveys and match aggregated private consumption in national accounts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

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Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

3 D ECE M BE R 2 0 1 8 — NO . 1 3 1 Consistency between household-level consumption data from registers and surveys Kim Abildgren [kpa@nationalbanken.dk](kpa@nationalbanken.dk)[ ](kpa@nationalbanken.dk)DANMARKS NATIONALBANK Andreas Kuchler [aku@nationalbanken.dk](aku@nationalbanken.dk)[ ](aku@nationalbanken.dk)DANMARKS NATIONALBANK America Solange Lohmann Rasmussen [slr@dst.dk](slr@dst.dk) STATISTICS DENMARK Henrik Sejerbo Sørensen [hss@dst.dk](hss@dst.dk) STATISTICS DENMARK The Working Papers of Danmarks Nationalbank describe research and development, often still ongoing, as a contribution to the professional debate. The viewpoints and conclusions stated in this paper are the responsibility of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Danmarks Nationalbank or Statistics Denmark. WO R K I NG PA P ER — DA N MA R KS NAT IO NA L BA N K 3 D ECE M BE R 2 0 1 8 — NO . 1 3 1 Consistency between household-level consumption data from registers and surveys Abstract We explore the consistency at household-level between register-imputed and survey-based consumption figures for Denmark over the period 2002-15. Furthermore, we analyse the differences between consumption functions estimated on the basis of the two types of microdata. We find that there is a close match regarding the median and mean level of consumption reported for the same households in the register-imputed and surveybased consumption data. Furthermore, we find that the marginal propensities to consume out of income estimated for the pre-crisis period (2005- 07), the crisis period (2008-11) and the post-crisis period (2012-15) on the basis of register data are not significantly different to those estimated on the basis of survey data for the same households withincome levels around the median. Finally, we find a relatively close match between total private consumption in the national-accounts statistics and the register-based consumption figures aggregatedover all households. Overall, the findings confirm that low-cost consumption microdata derived from administrative registers covering the entire population of households can be an attractive alternative to survey data. Resume Vi undersøger konsistensen på husstandsniveau mellem forbrug beregnet ud fra administrative registre og forbrug rapporteret i den interviewbaserede forbrugsundersøgelse for Danmark iperioden 2002-15. Desuden analyserer vi forskellene mellem forbrugsfunktioner estimeret på basis af de to typer af mikrodata. Vi finder en tæt sammenhæng med hensyn til middel-og medianværdien af forbrugsniveauet for de samme husstande ide to typer af forbrugsdata. Endvidere finder vi, at de marginale tilbøjeligheder til at forbruge ud afindkomsten estimeret for årene før (2005-07), under (2008-11) og efter (2012-15) finanskrisen på grundlag af registerdata ikke er signifikant forskellige fra dem, som kan estimeres på grundlagaf data fra forbrugsundersøgelsen for de samme husstande med indkomstniveauer omkring medianen. Endelig finder vi en forholdsvis tætsammenhæng mellem det samlede privatforbrug i nationalregnskabsstatistikken og de registerbaserede forbrugsdata aggregeret over alle husstande. Samlet set bekræfter resultaterne, atforbrugsmikrodata udledt fra administrative registre dækkende alle landets husstande kan være etattraktivt og billigt alternativ til interviewbaseredestikprøveundersøgelser. Key words Household microdata; consumption measures; consumption function. JEL classification C81; D12; E21 . Acknowledgements We wish to thank participants for useful inputs atthe ECB HFCN meeting in Bratislava in June 2018, the 35th IARIW General Conference in Copenhagen in August 2018 and the Deutsche Bundesbank Conference on "Heterogeneous households, firms and financial intermediaries" in Frankfurt in September 2018. We gratefully acknowledge comments by colleagues from Danmarks Nationalbank and Statistics Denmark. We also wish to than

FAQs

What is the main research focus of the paper?

The paper examines whether household-level consumption derived from administrative registers is consistent with consumption reported in Denmark’s survey data over 2002–15.

How do the register-based and survey-based consumption levels compare?

The findings show a close match for the median and mean consumption levels reported for the same households across the two data sources.

Do income-related consumption behaviors differ between data sources?

For income levels around the median, the marginal propensities to consume estimated from register data are not significantly different from those estimated from survey data for pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis periods.

Oct 3, 2026

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