An Example of the Use of Statistical Matching in the Estimation and Analysis of the Size Distribution of Income: Ores Working Paper Series Number 18

This paper discusses the use of statistical matching in the estimation and analysis of the size distribution of family unit personal income. Statistical matching is a relatively new technique that has been used to combine, at the single observation level, data from two different samples, each of which contains some data items that are absent from the other file. In a statistical match, the information brought together from the different files ordinarily is not for the same person but for similar persons; the match is made on the basis of similar characteristics. In contrast, in an \“exact\” match, information for the same person from two or more files is brought together using personal identifying information.