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.