Reach me, if you can: How to Boost Participation of Rich Households in Wealth Surveys?

Andrej Cupak
National Bank of Slovakia & University of Economics in Bratislava

Judita Jurašeková Kucserová
National Bank of Slovakia

Zuzana Brokešová
University of Economics in Bratislava

Boris Frankovič
Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic

Sofie R. Waltl
University of Cambridge

Abstract

Ample prior evidence suggests that differential non-response implies under-representation of rich households in wealth surveys leading to underestimated aggregates and biased distributional results. This article proposes a targeted and incentivized oversampling strategy to tackle this issue. To disentangle the effects of oversampling and incentives in the form of a valuable collector’s silver coin on participation decisions, we implement this strategy experimentally  in the 2023/24 wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey in Slovakia: we establish two sample pools (general population and rich population) as well as a treatment (incentivized) and control (non-incentivized) group within the rich population. The results suggest an average treatment effect of 12-19 percentage points increased participation of wealthy households. The personal interaction with interviewers turns out to be another quality-enhancing factor discouraging purely online survey modes.

JEL Codes: C83, C93, D31.
Keywords: HFCS, survey experiment, missing wealthy households, unit-non-response, over-sampling, incentives.

Dissemination

Presentations (incl. scheduled): [Slovak Economic Association Meeting (SEAM), Bratislava, SK][2nd LIS/III Comparative Economic Inequality Conference, Luxembourg][NBS – National Bank of Slovakia][University of Economics, Bratislava][HFCN meeting, Bank of Greece, Athens][Conference “Inequalities and Opportunities — Insights into wealth, income and education disparities”, University of Bari][International Conference on Wealth Inequality: The Munich International Stone Center for Inequality Research (ISI), LMU Munich][CNB – Czech National Bank][NOeG Winter Workshop, Vienna]

Panel Discussion: Social Situation Monitor (SSM), Brussels