Reconciling Survey and Administrative Measures of Self-Employment

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Labor Economics
Year: 2021
Volume: 39
Issue: 4
Pages: 825 - 860

Authors (5)

Katharine G. Abraham (University of Maryland) John C. Haltiwanger (University of Maryland) Claire Hou (not in RePEc) Kristin Sandusky (not in RePEc) James R. Spletzer (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.804 = (α=2.01 / 5 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Good information on self-employment is needed to inform the ongoing discussion of the rise of the gig economy and its implications for workers. Tax data show significant growth in self-employment not captured in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS-ASEC). The growing gap reflects both self-employment in tax data missing from the CPS-ASEC and self-employment misreported as wage and salary work. We document consistent patterns in the discrepancies between the tax and survey data but are able to explain only a modest share of the growing disagreement between them.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/712187
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
5
Added to Database
2026-01-24