Survey misreporting of welfare receipt-Respondent, interviewer, and interview characteristics

We use matched survey and administrative data to study interviewer and interview related determinants of misreporting on welfare receipt in interviews. In our data, 12.2 % of German welfare recipients underreport benefit receipt. We find that underreporting is more likely in formal and standardized interviews compared to those with a more conversational character. Further, low interviewer education and matched interviewer-respondent characteristics with respect to immigration and education are associated with higher reporting quality. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.