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Data Appendix: What Do Survey Data Tell Us about U.S. Businesses?
McGrattan, Ellen R.; Birinci, Serdar; Bhandari, Anmol (2019-01-11)
In this appendix, we provide details on the data sources and construction of variables for our analysis in "What Do Survey Data Tell Us about U.S. Businesses?" We also include the auxiliary tables and figures omitted from the main text.
Staff Report , Paper 578

Report
What Do Survey Data Tell Us about U.S. Businesses?
Birinci, Serdar; See, Kurt; McGrattan, Ellen R.; Bhandari, Anmol (2018-06-21)
This paper examines the reliability of survey data for research on pass-through businesses activities. Passthrough businesses account for over half of all net income to businesses in the United States and most of the rise in top income shares. We examine all surveys that ask questions about these businesses and compare outcomes across surveys and with aggregated administrative data. We document large inconsistencies in business incomes, receipts, and number of returns. We highlight problems due to non-representative samples and measurement errors. Non-representativeness is reflected in ...
Staff Report , Paper 568