The aim of the paper is to compare two alternative survey designs in terms of resultant response rates, non response bias and cost. The first design is a simple postal survey with follow-up mailings; the second design is a two-phase multi-mode design, where the postal survey is followed at the...

We contribute new evidence about earnings and labour market volatility in Britain over the period 1992–2008, for women as well as men, and provide transatlantic comparisons (Most research about volatility refers to earnings volatility for US men.). Earnings volatility declined slightly for...

We examine the determinants of low income transitions using first-order Markov models that control for initial conditions effects (those found to be poor in the base year may be a non-random sample) and for attrition (panel retention may also be non-random). The model estimates, derived from...

We model the dynamics of social assistance benefit receipt in Britain using data from the British Household Panel Survey, waves 1–15. First, we discuss definitions of social assistance benefit receipt, and present information about the trends between 1991 and 2005 in the receipt of social...

We model transitions between unemployment, low-paid and high-paid employment by British men using a first order Markov model with endogenous switching that also takes into account the endogeneity of initial conditions, selection into employment, and sample attrition. Our estimates indicate that...

We analyse the dynamics of social assistance benefit (SA) receipt among working-age adults in Britain between 1991 and 2005. The decline in the annual SA receipt rate was driven by a decline in the SA entry rate rather than by the SA exit rate (which also declined). We examine the determinants...

In the United Kingdom, in order to link individual-level administrative records to survey responses, respondents need to give their consent. Using an unprecedented set of respondent, interview, and interviewer characteristics derived from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) matched with an...

The authors examine how questionnaire structure affects survey interaction in the context of dependent interviewing (DI). DI is widely used in panel surveys to reduce observed spurious change in respondent circumstances. Although a growing literature generally finds beneficial measurement...