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Conference on Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures

sponsored by Conference on Research in Income and Wealth and the National Bureau of Economic Research, with support from the Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice

 

December 2-3, 2011

 

Grand Hyatt Washington

1000 H Street, NW

Washington, DC

 

Christopher Carroll, Thomas Crossley, and John Sabelhaus, Organizers

 

PROGRAM

 

Friday, December 2

 

 

8:30 am

Registration and Continental Breakfast

 

 

Session One: Weighting the Consumer Price Index

 

Session Organizer: John Sabelhaus, Federal Reserve Board and University of Maryland

 

Session Chair: Brent Moulton, Bureau of Economic Analysis

 

 

9:00 am

The Devil's in the Details - A Concordance for the CE, CPI, and PCE

 

Caitlin Blair, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Rob Cage, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Thesia Garner, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Clinton McCully, Bureau of Economic Analysis

 

William Passero, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

 

 

Consumer Price Index Requirements of the Consumer Expenditure Surveys

 

William Casey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Sara Stanley, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

 

 

Constructing a PCE-Weighted Consumer Price Index

 

Caitlin Blair, Bureau of Labor Statistics                    SLIDES

 

 

10:45 am

Break

 

 

Session Two: Measuring the Accuracy of Household Survey Data

 

Session Organizers: John Sabelhaus, Federal Reserve Board and University of Maryland

 

Christopher Carroll, Johns Hopkins University

 

Session Chair: Erik Hurst, University of Chicago and NBER

 

 

11:00 am

Micro and Macro Validation of the Consumer Expenditure Survey

 

Adam Bee, U.S. Census Bureau

 

Bruce Meyer, University of Chicago and NBER

 

James Sullivan, University of Notre Dame

 

 

 

Examples of Combining Administrative Records and Survey Data in Validation Studies

 

Claus Thustrup Kreiner, University of Copenhagen

 

David Dreyer Lassen, University of Copenhagen

 

Soren Leth-Petersen, University of Copenhagen

 

 

 

Judging the Quality of Survey Data by Comparison with “Truth” as Measured By Administrative Records: Evidence From Sweden

 

Ralph Koijen, University of Chicago and NBER

 

Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, New York University and NBER

 

Roine Vestman, Institute for Financial Research (SIFR)

 

 

12:45 pm

Lunch

 

 

1:45 pm

CRIW Membership Meeting

 

 

Session Three: Consumption Survey Techniques, Part 1

 

Session Organizer: Thomas Crossley, Koc University, IFS, and University of Cambridge

 

Session Chair: Mario Padula, University "Ca' Foscari" of Venice

 

 

2:15 pm

A Comparison of Micro and Macro Expenditure Measures across Countries using Differing Survey Methods

 

Garry Barrett, University of Sydney

 

Peter Levell, IFS

 

Kevin Milligan, University of British Columbia

 

 

Asking Households about Expenditures: What Have We Learned?

 

Thomas Crossley, Koc University, IFS, and University of Cambridge

 

Joachim Winter, Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich

 

 

 

Wealth Dynamics and Active Saving at Older Ages

 

Michael Hurd, RAND Corporation and NBER

 

Susann Rohwedder, RAND Corporation

 

 

4:00 pm

Break

 

 

Session Four: Alternative Data Collection Strategies

 

Session Organizer: Christopher Carroll, Johns Hopkins University

 

Session Chair: Sumit Agarwal, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

 

 

4:15 pm

Estimating Expenditures without Expenditure Data

 

Christopher Carroll, Johns Hopkins University

 

Michael Palumbo, Federal Reserve Board

 

 

 

The Potential Use of In-Home Scanner Technology for Budget Surveys

 

Andrew Leicester, IFS

 

 

 

High-Frequency Data on Total Household Spending: Evidence from Monthly ALP Surveys

 

Michael Hurd, RAND Corporation and NBER

 

Susann Rohwedder, RAND Corporation

 

 

6:15 pm

Adjourn

 

 

Saturday, December 3

 

 

8:30 am

Continental Breakfast

 

 

Session Five: Consumption Survey Techniques, Part 2

 

Session Organizer: Thomas Crossley, Koc University, IFS, and University of Cambridge

 

Session Chair: Barry Bosworth, Brookings Institution

 

 

9:00 am

Exploring the Feasibility of Implementing a Cash-Flow Reconciliation Approach in the Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey

 

Scott Fricker, Bureau of Labor Statistics                               SLIDES

 

Brandon Kopp, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Nhien To, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

 

 

Measuring Household Spending and Payment Habits: The Role of "Typical" and "Specific" Time Frames in Survey Questions

 

Marco Angrisani, RAND Corporation

 

Arie Kapteyn, RAND Corporation

 

 

 

Is the Consumer Expenditure Survey Representative by Income?

 

Stephen Ash, U.S. Census Bureau                                     SLIDES

 

Thesia Garner, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

John Greenlees, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Steve Henderson, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

David Johnson, U.S. Census Bureau

 

John Sabelhaus, Federal Reserve Board and University of Maryland

 

David Swanson, Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

 

10:45 am

Break

 

 

Session Six: Interaction Between Core CE Goals and Fundamental Research Questions

 

Session Organizer: Christopher Carroll, Johns Hopkins University

 

Session Chair: Karen Dynan, Brookings Institution

 

 

11:00 am

Why Panel Data is Indispensable for Accurate Measurement of Consumption Expenditures

 

Jonathan Parker, Northwestern University and NBER

 

Nicholas Souleles, University of Pennsylvania and NBER

 

Christopher Carroll, Johns Hopkins University

 

 

 

Measuring the Evolution of Inequality and Poverty with the Consumer Expenditure Survey and Alternative Data Sources

 

Orazio Attanasio, University College London and NBER

 

Erik Hurst, University of Chicago and NBER

 

Luigi Pistaferri, Stanford University

 

 

 

Using the CE to Model Household Demand

 

Laura Blow, IFS

 

Valerie Lechene, UCL and IFS

 

Peter Levell, IFS

 

 

1:00 pm

Lunch and Panel Discussion: What Should Consumer Expenditure Surveys Do, And What Shouldn't They Do?

 

 

 

Angus Deaton, Princeton University and NBER

 

Steven Landefeld, Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis

 

Melvin Stephens, University of Michigan and NBER

 

Guglielmo Weber, University of Padua

 

 

3:00 pm

Adjourn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Format:  Each paper's presenter will have 25 minutes.  The chair/discussant will have 15 minutes.  The remaining time will be for questions and comments from the floor.