Living Standards Measurement Study

Accurate estimates of men's and women's employment are necessary for understanding sources of productivity and growth and designing well-targeted, gender-sensitive labor policies. Our work examines how respondent selection in household and labor force surveys affects these estimates. We document that the ‘business-as-usual’ survey approach that allows for proxy reporting in gathering individual-level labor data leads to significantly lower reporting of wage and self-employment activities, particularly for women - compared to the best practice approach that conducts private interviews with adult household members to elicit self-reported information.

DOWNLOAD PAPER