Working Paper: NBER ID: w15703
Authors: J. Trent Alexander; Michael Davern; Betsey Stevenson
Abstract: We discover and document errors in public use microdata samples ("PUMS files") of the 2000 Census, the 2003-2006 American Community Survey, and the 2004-2009 Current Population Survey. For women and men ages 65 and older, age- and sex-specific population estimates generated from the PUMS files differ by as much as 15% from counts in published data tables. Moreover, an analysis of labor force participation and marriage rates suggests the PUMS samples are not representative of the population at individual ages for those ages 65 and over. PUMS files substantially underestimate labor force participation of those near retirement ages and overestimate labor force participation rates of those at older ages. These problems were an unintentional by-product of the misapplication of a newer generation of disclosure avoidance procedures carried out on the data. The resulting errors in the public use data could significantly impact studies of people ages 65 and older, particularly analyses of variables that are expected to change by age.
Keywords: Census; PUMS; Age Data; Sex Data; Disclosure Avoidance
JEL Codes: C42; C8; C83; J0; J1; J12; J14
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| misapplication of disclosure avoidance techniques (C81) | underestimation of labor force participation among individuals aged 65 and over (J14) |
| misapplication of disclosure avoidance techniques (C81) | overestimation of labor force participation among older cohorts (J21) |
| inaccurate age and sex data (J71) | flawed analyses of various demographic variables (J11) |
| inaccurate age and sex data (J71) | incorrect conclusions about labor force participation and marriage rates among the elderly (J26) |