How Accurate Are Recall Data? Evidence from Coastal India

This paper investigates the accuracy of recall data by comparing administrative records with retrospective, self-reported survey responses to income and asset questions for a sample of self-employed households from coastal India. It finds that the magnitude of the recall error increases over time, in part because respondents rely less on memory and instead infer earnings based on past earnings. Individuals tend to recall monthly earnings more accurately when they are higher than the median. These results imply that the variance estimated from the self-reported earnings distribution will be lower than the real one. The paper also finds that data reported by income earners are more accurate than those reported by their wives, and that the use of time cues can worsen accuracy if they are not relevant to the respondent. Where the recall questions were placed in a two-hour long survey did not affect accuracy.