Are estimates of intergenerational mobility biased by non-response? Evidence from the Netherlands
利用荷兰调查数据与行政收入数据的链接，研究了父母收入与孩子数学和语言成绩的关系，发现单位无应答和项目无应答分别导致估计值向下和向上偏差，提醒基于调查数据的代际流动性研究需谨慎解读。
Intergenerational mobility is often studied using survey data. In such settings, selective unit or item non-response may bias estimates. Linking Dutch survey data to administrative income data allows us to examine whether selective responses bias the estimated relationship between parental income and children's mathematics and language test scores in grades 6 and 9. We find that the estimates of these relationships are biased downward due to parental unit non-response, while they are biased upwards due to item non-response. In the analyses of both unit and item non-response, the point estimates for language and mathematics test scores point in the same direction but only one of the two relationships is significant. These findings suggest that estimates of intergenerational mobility based on survey data need to be interpreted with caution because they may be biased by selective non-response. The direction of such bias is difficult to predict a priori. Bias due to unit and item non-response may work in opposing directions and may differ across outcomes.