The Relatives are Fine: Use of Qualitative Firm Data in Economic Analysis

We use qualitative and quantitative data for the same firms to examine the robustness of firms' qualitative responses regarding their performance.

In contrast to some prior studies, firms accurately respond to qualitative questions regarding productivity and profitability relative to other firms. One reason for this accuracy is that the qualitative response options specifically include a don't know category that reduces misreporting and bias.

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Citation

Fabling, Richard, Arthur Grimes and Philip Stevens. 2012. "The Relatives are Fine: Use of Qualitative Firm Data in Economic Analysis," Applied Economics Letters, 19:7, pp. 614-8