Department of Economics and Business - Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Title:: Improving small area estimation by combining surveys: new perspectives in regional statistics
Authors:: Albert Satorra, Eva Ventura and Alex Costa
Date:: June 2006
Abstract:: A national survey designed for estimating a specific population quantity is sometimes used for estimation of this quantity also for a small area, such as a province. Budget constraints do not allow a greater sample size for the small area, and so other means of improving estimation have to be devised. We investigate such methods and assess them by a Monte Carlo study. We explore how a complementary survey can be exploited in small area estimation. We use the context of the Spanish Labour Force Survey (EPA) and the Barometer in Spain for our study.
Keywords:: Composite estimator, complementary survey, mean squared error, official statistics, regional statistics, small area
JEL codes:: 62J07, C2J10, 62H12
Area of Research:: Statistics, Econometrics and Quantitative Methods
Published in:: SORT(Statistics and Operations Research Transactions) 30, 101-122, 2006

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