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. 2017;42(3-4):225-248.
doi: 10.3233/JEM-180447. Epub 2018 May 9.

Using the Annual Social and Economic Supplement as Part of a Current Population Survey Panel

Sarah M Flood  1 , José Pacas  1
Affiliations

Using the Annual Social and Economic Supplement as Part of a Current Population Survey Panel

Sarah M Flood et al. J Econ Soc Meas. 2017.

Abstract

The Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) is the most widely used type of Current Population Survey (CPS) data, but it is cumbersome to use the ASEC as part of a longitudinal CPS panel, especially linking to non-March months. In this paper, we detail the challenges associated with linking the ASEC to monthly CPS data, outline the creation of an identifier that links the ASEC and the March Basic Monthly data from 1989 through 2017, and provide substantive examples that illustrate the value of combining the ASEC with monthly data. The variable, MARBASECID, which we created to link ASEC and March monthly CPS data, represents a significant contribution to social and economic data infrastructure, saving individual researchers from having to duplicate the effort required to create linkages between ASEC and monthly CPS data.

Keywords: Current Population Survey; data infrastructure; data integration; linking; panel data.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparing the Size of the March Basic Monthly Survey and the ASEC Oversample, 1989–2017
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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