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Total nominal and real marriage costs (in LE) for 2000-2012, as reported in 2006 versus 2012, individuals in both waves, answering marriage section in 2012 (may not yet have been married in 2006). Source: Authors' calculations based on ELMPS 2006 and ELMPS 2012
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There is potential for measurement problems in both retrospective and panel microdata. In this paper, we compare results on basic indicators related to labor markets and their dynamics from retrospective and panel survey data in Egypt, in order to determine the conditions under which results are similar or different. Specifically, we (1) assess the...
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... Yet some demonstrated this method to yield a high degree of similarity to data that have been concurrently collected (Jivraj et al., 2020). In any case, it has been pointed out that retrospective data provide helpful information for hypothesis generation (Assaad et al., 2018). Furthermore, the participants in the current study recalled their high school experience at the beginning of their freshman year in college. ...
This study examines the often‐heard assumption in science teaching that some pedagogies in science classrooms can serve a dual function—improve the student‐perceived teacher quality and improve students' affinity to STEM professions. We asked 7507 freshmen from 40 colleges in the United States, selected in a stratified random procedure, to retrospectively report their experiences of a list of 32 pedagogies during high school biology, chemistry, and physics classes. Our survey also asked students to rate each teachers' quality and to report their Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics career interests at the beginning and end of high school. We found that teachers' chosen pedagogies, on the whole, had a stronger impact on how students rated them than on students' career interests. Interestingly, we also found considerable differences between the disciplines.
... Additional research is needed to continue to improve the detection of women's employment. The same types of employment that are under-detected contemporaneously tend to be left out of retrospective recall (Assaad, Krafft, and Yassin 2018). Piloting and testing project-based detection in retrospective questions is an important area for future research. ...
... Evidence suggests that we can draw fairly accurate information on labor market dynamics from retrospective data. More elaborate information about job characteristics such as fine distinctions between different employment statuses are less reliable (Assaad et al., 2018). In our analysis, we focus on transitions in and out of different jobs, so we have reasons to believe that the data is reliable for this purpose. ...
... Additional research is needed to continue to improve the detection of women's employment. The same types of employment that are under-detected contemporaneously tend to be left out of retrospective recall (Assaad, Krafft, and Yassin 2018). Piloting and testing project-based detection in retrospective questions is an important area for future research. ...
Innovations to date in detecting women's employment have focused primarily on improving individual-level questions. This paper explores an alternative approach, using data on household enterprises and asking who participates in these activities. This research uses the latest waves of the Labor Market Panel Surveys for the Arab Republic of Egypt (2018) and Tunisia (2014). The research questions are (1) How do men's and women's employment rates change when adding enterprise-based detection questions to standard individual-level questions? (2) Was the additional market employment detected with project-based approaches classified as subsistence work with individual measurement approaches? (3) For which women is additional employment detected using project-based approaches? The paper presents descriptive results on work based on the different approaches. It also estimates changes in state (being reclassified as working) from adding enterprise-level data. The findings show large increases in employment rates for rural women in both countries when including enterprise-based detection questions.
... Another limitation of this study is that it relies on people's recall of past labor market states and their timing. Such recall is more accurate when jobs are well defined and involve a relationship with a regular employer (Assaad, Krafft, and Yassin 2018). If an individual experiences frequent job changes as a casual or independent worker, it is often hard to know what is a job change and what is not. ...
... As shown inKrafft, Assaad, Cortes-Mendosa and Honzay (2023), 45% of workers in Sudan are in some form of non-wage work, and 40% are in informal wage employment. 5 This design of questions was a substantial improvement over past designs that asked for statuses (whether employment or non-employment) repeatedly and often missed non-employment periods(Assaad, Krafft, and Yassin 2018;Krafft, Assaad, and Rahman 2021). ...
... Women are, however, more often participating in market and subsistence activities on an annual basisAssaad, Krafft, and Jamkar 2023). Women's employment tends to be more difficult to measure and under-detected by standard metrics compared to that of men(Assaad, Krafft, and Yassin 2018;Langsten and Salem 2008).16 This compares to a contemporaneous 2022 male employment rate of 59% overall. ...
Sudan's economy, society, and labor market have experienced a large number of shocks since Sudan's last household survey in 2014/15. Pre-existing political and economic challenges contributed to the revolution in 2018 and substantial political change in 2019, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and further political and economic turmoil in 2021-2022. The new Sudan Labor Market Panel Survey 2022 provides an important opportunity to understand labor market dynamics in Sudan during this turbulent period. Both contemporaneous and retrospective data allow the creation and analysis of monthly statuses and transitions throughout the 2015-2021 period. The paper specifically examines the dynamics of job finding and entry into the labor market, unemployment durations, and employment exits. The results show the increased difficulties in entering employment as Sudan was beset by shocks.
... The retrospective data are subject to recall bias; although key states (e.g. employment and sector) tend to be recalled well (Assaad, Krafft, & Yassin, 2018), other details, such as the date of start of social insurance, may be subject to more error. The retrospective data do not capture loss of social insurance within a job, but this is a dynamic we can capture with the panel. ...
... However, research validating the retrospective data against previous waves of the panel has demonstrated that formal jobs tend to be relatively better measured than other aspects of retrospective work (e.g. hours)(Assaad, Krafft, & Yassin, 2018). ...
... Typically, the statuses recorded lasted a year or longer, 6 which works well for our creation of an annual vector of statuses. In addition to missing short spells of unemployment, we know that individuals tend to under-report unemployment in the retrospective data, especially when it occurred some time in the past (Assaad, Krafft, & Yassin, 2018). 7 These details and challenges must be kept in mind when interpreting the results. ...
... While in Figure 4 the transition from employment to unemployment appears to have been rising slightly over time in Jordan and Tunisia, caution in interpretation is required here, as we know that there are reporting problems with retrospective unemployment spells (Assaad, Krafft, & Yassin, 2018). Moreover, in the multivariate models (Table 3), only one difference is statistically significant, with higher employment to unemployment transitions for Jordanian women in 2011-2013 compared with a reference year of 2004-2007. ...
Although it is well-established in the literature that unemployment is a labour market insertion problem in the Middle East and North Africa, the dynamics driving unemployment remain poorly understood. Using data from the Labor Market Panel Surveys in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, we offer insights into youth unemployment by studying flows into and out of unemployment. Female youth and Tunisian youth of both genders are particularly likely to experience long periods of unemployment. Educated youth from higher socioeconomic status backgrounds are more likely to experience unemployment, but there is not a strong relationship between background and unemployment duration.
... As a remedy, retrospective data collected during a single interview can serve as a proxy in smallholder agricultural decision contexts spanning several times. To diminish data integrity concerns and recall errors related to retrospective survey (Weinger et al., 2003;Gibson and Kim, 2005), we applied triangulation techniques (Assaad et al., 2018). Eventually a retrospective enquiry is applied in order to understand the dynamics in AFI adoption decisions by smallholders over successive cycles. ...
Understanding how technological change occurs, especially in smallholder contexts of sub-Saharan Africa, is essential to catalyze structural change and improve livelihoods. Extending the perspectives of comprehending the factors influencing technological changes is one such vital research aspect. We collected retrospective data and applied sequential analysis, both thematically and econometrically, to understand how smallholder farmers of the Amhara region of Ethiopia make technological changes regarding the adoption of agroforestry innovations. The results proved that time-responsive incentives/support systems/ are more important than general guidelines. We discuss the results thoroughly by referring to relevant studies and provided suggestions for prospective studies to affect policy and actions.
... We interpret changes in the share of those who have not yet worked across cohorts as evidence of changes in the prevalence of waithood. We do not distinguish between unemployment and being out of the labor force, since waithood might take either form and unemployment is difficult to distinguish from nonparticipation in retrospective data (Assaad, Krafft, and Yassin 2018). We refer to employment in a family business or farm as a traditional transition. ...
... One possible concern related to our data is the use of retrospective information on family SES and initial labor market status. Research on the LMPSs comparing retrospective data consistency over waves and with contemporaneous panel data shows generally good consistency on these key variables (Assaad, Krafft, and Yassin 2018;Krafft and Assaad 2021), but measurement error remains a concern, particularly if it is systematic. ...
The Middle East and North Africa region struggled to meet the employment aspirations of its increasingly educated youth in the aftermath of structural reforms. This article examines the evolution of initial labor market outcomes across pre- and post-reform cohorts of school leavers by education and socioeconomic status (SES) in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia. Results show that formal jobs for educated new entrants are increasingly allocated according to SES, as measured by parents’ education and father’s occupation, in Egypt and Tunisia, but not in Jordan. In Egypt and Tunisia, the quality of initial jobs deteriorated for educated new entrants, particularly among those with lower SES. This rising tide of inequality of opportunity in employment may have contributed to the Arab Spring uprisings and remains an important source of frustration for youth and their families.
... As a point of comparison, using panel data in Egypt, between 40-74% of women in private sector wage employment and especially non-wage roles exited employment between 2006 and 2012 (Assaad and Krafft 2015). A paper using retrospective data (where transitions are likely under-estimated for many statuses (Assaad, Krafft, and Yassin 2018)) found that for Tunisian women who started in private wage employment, the hazard of exit (probability of exit if still working) each year after marriage was around 20%, although hazards in Jordan and Egypt were lower (Assaad, Krafft, and Selwaness 2022). These high rates of exit for women pre-pandemic underscore the difficulties they face reconciling private sector employment with care work. ...
