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Adjusting for Scale-Use Heterogeneity in Self-Reported Well-Being

Presenter:

,

Eaton Chair in Economics, University of Colorado Boulder 

Time:

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

10:00 ¨C 11:00 AM (ET)

ONLINE:  

IN-PERSON (for World Bank HQ staff): Room F-3P-E-300 

Abstract

Analyses of self-reported-well-being (SWB) survey data may be confounded if people use response scales differently. We use calibration questions, designed to have the same objective answer across respondents, to measure dimensional (i.e., specific to an SWB dimension) and general (i.e., common across questions) scale-use heterogeneity. In a sample of ~3,350 MTurkers, we find substantial such heterogeneity that is correlated with demographics. We develop a theoretical framework and econometric approaches to quantify and adjust for this heterogeneity. We apply our new estimators in several standard SWB applications. Adjusting for general-scale-use heterogeneity changes results in some cases.

For other information, please contact ikoval1@worldbank.org