We analyse the determinants of non-response to questions on financial items such as income and asset holdings in household surveys. Our data come from a controlled field experiment. As part of the SAVE study - a representative survey conducted in Germany in 2001 - questions on household income and financial assets were administered using different modes (personal interview versus drop-off questionnaire). The data also allow us to investigate the influence of interviewer characteristics on non-response. Our results are in line with predictions derived from models of survey response behaviour that have been developed in survey research and social psychology.
Authors
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
Lothar Essig
Journal article details
- Publisher
- Blackwell Publishing
- ISSN
- Print 0143-5671 Online: 1475-5890
- JEL
- C81
- Issue
- December 2009
Suggested citation
Essig, L and Winter, J. (2009). 'Item Non-Response to Financial Questions in Household Surveys: An Experimental Study of Interviewer and Mode Effects' (2009)
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