Age heaping in recent national censuses

Heaping is a phenomenon in which reported numbers tend to appear in increments that are important for cultural or other reasons. This study reports that heaping is present in monthly earnings reports for publicly listed companies in Taiwan. We find that Taiwanese firms tend to report monthly earnings in increments of 5 in the first two places (digits) of the earnings numbers. Furthermore, we observe predominantly more zeros in the third through fifth places of monthly earnings numbers, suggesting that monthly earnings tend to be reported in increments of 10 in the first three, first four, and first five places. Reporting of monthly earnings in Taiwan is discretionary, and our findings suggest that managers of Taiwanese firms are susceptible to heuristic bias when reporting monthly earnings. These findings complement studies on heaping in U.S. financial markets documenting that managers and financial analysts tend to make earnings per share estimates that heap in increments of nickels.

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“…2. A classical example of heaping is the tendency for people to report their ages in multiples of 5 (e.g., Stockwell and Wicks 1974).…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heaping in Reported Earnings: Evidence from Monthly Financial Reports of Taiwanese Firms

Lin

Guan

Fang

2011

Emerging Markets Finance and Trade

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“…Practically, however, the variety of ultimate contextual factors is likely to affect such patterns. In their pioneering studies, Nagi, Stockwell and Snavley (1973), and Stockwell and Wicks (1974), found that the magnitude of error in age reporting in a population is closely related to the latter's level of modernization as measured by a host of socio-economic indicators (e.g. the proportion of persons economically active, the percentage literate and the proportion of people working in the non-agricultural sector).…”

Section: Age Heaping In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age heaping patterns in Mosaic data

Szołtysek

Poniat

Gruber

2017

Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdiscipli

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This paper analyzes the extent and nature of age-misreporting in the Mosaic data, currently one of the largest historical census microdata infrastructures for continental Europe. We use demographic measures known as the age heaping indexes to explore regional, periodic and sex-specific patterns of age misreporting across 115 Mosaic regional datafiles, from Catalonia to Moscow, during Europe's demographic ancien r egime and thereafter. The paper's second significant contribution is the comparison of Mosaic-based results to those derived from two other big census data projects-IPUMS and NAPP. Beyond this exploratory data analysis, we also investigate possible sources of variation in age heaping across Mosaic data by examining how it relates to variability in socioeconomic, institutional, and environmental conditions. Overall, our systematic inquiry into quality of age reporting in Mosaic consolidates the project's potentially transformative role in comparative historical family demography and suggests some avenues for future research.

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“…Heaping in self-reports often occurs in multiples of 5 or 10 and is not cigarette specific. 14,15,28–30 For cigarette smokers, heaping at 10 or 20 (half-pack or full-pack of cigarettes) may impact the assessment of nicotine dependence, specifically with the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) because cut-points of this measure occur in counts of 10 (FTND categories: 10 or less, 11–20, 21–30, 31+). Heaping in self-reports, that differs from actual consumption, even by a few cigarettes, can lead to incorrect FTND classification.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Importance of Filter Collection for Accurate Measurement of Cigarette Smoking

Saddleson¹,

Wileyto²,

Darwar³

et al. 2017

tobacco reg sci

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Objectives We examined the impact of cigarette filter collection on reports of cigarettes per day (CPD) versus self-reported CPD and to assess the utility of a pre-intervention baseline period in smoking studies. Methods Using baseline data from 522 non-treatment seeking smokers, we assessed differences in self-reported CPD via phone screen (CPD PS) and during baseline (CPD BL). We analyzed self-reported cigarette measures to predict carbon monoxide (CO), a measure of smoke exposure. Results On average, CPD PS was 2.8 CPD more than CPD BL, and reporting multiples of 10 were more often found in CPD PS compared with CPD BL (54.7% vs17.2%, respectively). CPD BL was more strongly associated with CO than self-report CPD. Number of cigarettes smoked today, time since last cigarette, and nicotine dependence were significantly associated with CO. Conclusions CPD BL using filter collection is a more accurate measure of cigarette consumption than self-report, which may have implications for assessment of nicotine dependence. When feasible, studies should include a pre-intervention baseline period for comparison data with study outcomes. In addition to CPD BL, studies should assess time since last cigarette and the number of cigarettes smoked today when using CO as a biological measure of smoke exposure.

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Age heaping in recent national censuses

Cited by 32 publications

References 1 publication

Heaping in Reported Earnings: Evidence from Monthly Financial Reports of Taiwanese Firms

Heaping in Reported Earnings: Evidence from Monthly Financial Reports of Taiwanese Firms

Age heaping patterns in Mosaic data

The Importance of Filter Collection for Accurate Measurement of Cigarette Smoking

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