In 2001, the World Bank in co-operation with the Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics (RSIS), the Federal Institute of Statistics (FOS) and the Agency for Statistics of BiH (BHAS), carried out a Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS). The Living Standard Measurement Survey LSMS, in addition to collecting the information necessary to obtain a comprehensive as possible measure of the basic dimensions of household living standards, has three basic objectives, as follows: 1. To provide the public sector, government, the business community, scientific institutions, international donor organizations and social organizations with information on different indicators of the population's living conditions, as well as on available resources for satisfying basic needs. 2. To provide information for the evaluation of the results of different forms of government policy and programs developed with the aim to improve the population's living standard. The survey will enable the analysis of the relations between and among different aspects of living standards (housing, consumption, education, health, labor) at a given time, as well as within a household. 3. To provide key contributions for development of government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, based on analyzed data. The Department for International Development, UK (DFID) contributed funding to the LSMS and provided funding for a further three years of data collection for a panel survey, known as the Household Survey Panel Series (HSPS) – and more popularly known as Living in BiH (LiBiH). Birks Sinclair & Associates Ltd. in cooperation with the Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues (IBHI) were responsible for the management of the HSPS with technical advice and support provided by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Essex, UK. The panel survey provides longitudinal data through re-interviewing approximately half the LSMS respondents for three years following the LSMS, in the autumns of 2002 and 2003 and the winter of 2004. The LSMS constitutes Wave 1 of the panel survey so there are four years of panel data available for analysis. For the purposes of this documentation we are using the following convention to describe the different rounds of the panel survey: Wave 1 LSMS conducted in 2001 forms the baseline survey for the panel Wave 2 Second interview of 50% of LSMS respondents in Autumn/Winter 2002 Wave 3 Third interview with sub-sample respondents in Autumn/Winter 2003 Wave 4 Fourth interview with sub-sample respondents in Winter 2004 The panel data allows the analysis of key transitions and events over this period such as labour market or geographical mobility and observations on the consequent outcomes for the well-being of individuals and households in the survey. The panel data provides information on income and labour market dynamics within FBiH and RS. A key policy area is developing strategies for the reduction of poverty within FBiH and RS. The panel will provide information on the extent to which continuous poverty and movements in an out of poverty are experienced by different types of households and individuals over the four year period. Most importantly, the co-variates associated with moves into and out of poverty and the relative risks of poverty for different people can be assessed. As such, the panel aims to provide data, which will inform the policy debates within BiH at a time of social reform and rapid change. In order to develop base line (2004) data on poverty, incomes and socio-economic conditions, and to begin to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the BiH MTDS, EPPU commissioned this modified fourth round of the LiBiH Panel Survey.

Abstract

In 2001, the World Bank in co-operation with the Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics (RSIS), the Federal Institute of Statistics (FOS) and the Agency for Statistics of BiH (BHAS), carried out a Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS). The Living Standard Measurement Survey LSMS, in addition to collecting the information necessary to obtain a comprehensive as possible measure of the basic dimensions of household living standards, has three basic objectives, as follows:

1. To provide the public sector, government, the business community, scientific institutions, international donor organizations and social organizations with information on different indicators of the population's living conditions, as well as on available resources for satisfying basic needs.

2. To provide information for the evaluation of the results of different forms of government policy and programs developed with the aim to improve the population's living standard. The survey will enable the analysis of the relations between and among different aspects of living standards (housing, consumption, education, health, labor) at a given time, as well as within a household.

3. To provide key contributions for development of government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, based on analyzed data.

The Department for International Development, UK (DFID) contributed funding to the LSMS and provided funding for a further two years of data collection for a panel survey, known as the Household Survey Panel Series (HSPS). Birks Sinclair & Associates Ltd. were responsible for the management of the HSPS with technical advice and support provided by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Essex, UK. The panel survey provides longitudinal data through re-interviewing approximately half the LSMS respondents for two years following the LSMS, in the autumn of 2002 and 2003. The LSMS constitutes Wave 1 of the panel survey so there are three years of panel data available for analysis. For the purposes of this documentation we are using the following convention to describe the different rounds of the panel survey: - Wave 1 LSMS conducted in 2001 forms the baseline survey for the panel
- Wave 2 Second interview of 50% of LSMS respondents in Autumn/ Winter 2002 - Wave 3 Third interview with sub-sample respondents in Autumn/ Winter 2003

The panel data allows the analysis of key transitions and events over this period such as labour market or geographical mobility and observe the consequent outcomes for the well-being of individuals and households in the survey. The panel data provides information on income and labour market dynamics within FBiH and RS. A key policy area is developing strategies for the reduction of poverty within FBiH and RS. The panel will provide information on the extent to which continuous poverty is experienced by different types of households and individuals over the three year period. And most importantly, the co-variates associated with moves into and out of poverty and the relative risks of poverty for different people can be assessed. As such, the panel aims to provide data, which will inform the policy debates within FBiH and RS at a time of social reform and rapid change.

Geographic coverage

National coverage. Domains: Urban/rural/mixed; Federation; Republic

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The Wave 3 sample consisted of 2878 households who had been interviewed at Wave 2 and a further 73 households who were interviewed at Wave 1 but were non-contact at Wave 2 were issued. A total of 2951 households (1301 in the RS and 1650 in FBiH) were issued for Wave 3. As at Wave 2, the sample could not be replaced with any other households.

Panel design

Eligibility for inclusion

The household and household membership definitions are the same standard definitions as a Wave 2. While the sample membership status and eligibility for interview are as follows: i) All members of households interviewed at Wave 2 have been designated as original sample members (OSMs). OSMs include children within households even if they are too young for interview. ii) Any new members joining a household containing at least one OSM, are eligible for inclusion and are designated as new sample members (NSMs). iii) At each wave, all OSMs and NSMs are eligible for inclusion, apart from those who move outof-scope (see discussion below). iv) All household members aged 15 or over are eligible for interview, including OSMs and NSMs.

Following rules

The panel design means that sample members who move from their previous wave address must be traced and followed to their new address for interview. In some cases the whole household will move together but in others an individual member may move away from their previous wave household and form a new split-off household of their own. All sample members, OSMs and NSMs, are followed at each wave and an interview attempted. This method has the benefit of maintaining the maximum number of respondents within the panel and being relatively straightforward to implement in the field.

Definition of 'out-of-scope'

It is important to maintain movers within the sample to maintain sample sizes and reduce attrition and also for substantive research on patterns of geographical mobility and migration. The rules for determining when a respondent is 'out-of-scope' are as follows:

i. Movers out of the country altogether i.e. outside FBiH and RS. This category of mover is clear. Sample members moving to another country outside FBiH and RS will be out-of-scope for that year of the survey and not eligible for interview.

ii. Movers between entities Respondents moving between entities are followed for interview. The personal details of the respondent are passed between the statistical institutes and a new interviewer assigned in that entity.

iii. Movers into institutions Although institutional addresses were not included in the original LSMS sample, Wave 3 individuals who have subsequently moved into some institutions are followed. The definitions for which institutions are included are found in the Supervisor Instructions.

iv. Movers into the district of Brcko are followed for interview. When coding entity Brcko is treated as the entity from which the household who moved into Brcko originated.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Questionnaire design

Approximately 90% of the questionnaire (Annex B) is based on the Wave 2 questionnaire, carrying forward core measures that are needed to measure change over time. The questionnaire was widely circulated and changes were made as a result of comments received.

Pretesting

In order to undertake a longitudinal test the Wave 2 pretest sample was used. The Control Forms and Advance letters were generated from an Access database containing details of ten households in Sarajevo and fourteen in Banja Luka. The pretest was undertaken from March 24-April 4 and resulted in 24 households (51 individuals) successfully interviewed. One mover household was successfully traced and interviewed.
In order to test the questionnaire under the hardest circumstances a briefing was not held. A list of the main questionnaire changes was given to experienced interviewers.

Issues arising from the pretest

Interviewers were asked to complete a Debriefing and Rating form. The debriefing form captured opinions on the following three issues:

1. General reaction to being re-interviewed. In some cases there was a wariness of being asked to participate again, some individuals asking “Why Me?” Interviewers did a good job of persuading people to take part, only one household refused and another asked to be removed from the sample next year. Having the same interviewer return to the same households was considered an advantage. Most respondents asked what was the benefit to them of taking part in the survey. This aspect was reemphasised in the Advance Letter, Respondent Report and training of the Wave 3 interviewers.

2. Length of the questionnaire. The average time of interview was 30 minutes. No problems were mentioned in relation to the timing, though interviewers noted that some respondents, particularly the elderly, tended to wonder off the point and that control was needed to bring them back to the questions in the questionnaire. One interviewer noted that the economic situation of many respondents seems to have got worse from the previous year and it was necessary to listen to respondents “stories” during the interview.

3. Confidentiality. No problems were mentioned in relation to confidentiality. Though interviewers mentioned it might be worth mentioning the new Statistics Law in the Advance letter. The Rating Form asked for details of specific questions that were unclear. These are described below with a description of the changes made.

• Module 3. Q29-31 have been added to capture funds received for education, scholarships etc.

• Module 4. Pretest respondents complained that the 6 questions on "Has your health limited you..." and the 16 on "in the last 7 days have you felt depressed” etc were too many. These were reduced by half (Q38-Q48). The LSMS data was examined and those questions where variability between the answers was widest were chosen.

• Module 5. The new employment questions (Q42-Q44) worked well and have been kept in the main questionnaire.

• Module 7. There were no problems reported with adding the credit questions (Q28-Q36)

• Module 9. SIG recommended that some of Questions 1-12 were relevant only to those aged over 18 so additional skips have been added. Some respondents complained the questionnaire was boring. To try and overcome

Abstract

In 2001, the World Bank in co-operation with the Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics (RSIS), the Federal Institute of Statistics (FOS) and the Agency for Statistics of BiH (BHAS), carried out a Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS).

The Living Standard Measurement Survey LSMS, in addition to collecting the information necessary to obtain a comprehensive as possible measure of the basic dimensions of household living standards, has three basic objectives, as follows:

1. To provide the public sector, government, the business community, scientific institutions, international donor organizations and social organizations with information on different indicators of the population's living conditions, as well as on available resources for satisfying basic needs.

2. To provide information for the evaluation of the results of different forms of government policy and programs developed with the aim to improve the population's living standard. The survey will enable the analysis of the relations between and among different aspects of living standards (housing, consumption, education, health, labor) at a given time, as well as within a household.

3. To provide key contributions for development of government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, based on analyzed data.

The Department for International Development, UK (DFID) contributed funding to the LSMS and provided funding for a further three years of data collection for a panel survey, known as the Household Survey Panel Series (HSPS) – and more popularly known as Living in BiH (LiBiH). Birks Sinclair & Associates Ltd. in cooperation with the Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues (IBHI) were responsible for the management of the HSPS with technical advice and support provided by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Essex, UK.

The panel survey provides longitudinal data through re-interviewing approximately half the LSMS respondents for three years following the LSMS, in the autumns of 2002 and 2003 and the winter of 2004. The LSMS constitutes Wave 1 of the panel survey so there are four years of panel data available for analysis. For the purposes of this documentation we are using the following convention to describe the different rounds of the panel survey: - Wave 1 LSMS conducted in 2001 forms the baseline survey for the panel - Wave 2 Second interview of 50% of LSMS respondents in Autumn/Winter 2002 - Wave 3 Third interview with sub-sample respondents in Autumn/Winter 2003 - Wave 4 Fourth interview with sub-sample respondents in Winter 2004

The panel data allows the analysis of key transitions and events over this period such as labour market or geographical mobility and observations on the consequent outcomes for the well-being of individuals and households in the survey. The panel data provides information on income and labour market dynamics within FBiH and RS. A key policy area is developing strategies for the reduction of poverty within FBiH and RS. The panel will provide information on the extent to which continuous poverty and movements in an out of poverty are experienced by different types of households and individuals over the four year period. Most importantly, the co-variates associated with moves into and out of poverty and the relative risks of poverty for different people can be assessed. As such, the panel aims to provide data, which will inform the policy debates within BiH at a time of social reform and rapid change.

In order to develop base line (2004) data on poverty, incomes and socio-economic conditions, and to begin to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the BiH MTDS, EPPU commissioned this modified fourth round of the LiBiH Panel Survey.

Geographic coverage

National coverage. Domains: Urban/rural/mixed; Federation; Republic

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The Wave 4 sample comprised of 2882 households interviewed at Wave 3 (1309 in the RS and 1573 in FBiH). As at previous waves, sample households could not be replaced with any other households.

Panel design

Eligibility for inclusion

The household and household membership definitions assume the same standard definitions used at Wave 3. While the sample membership, status and eligibility for interview are as follows: i) All members of households interviewed at Wave 3 have been designated as original sample members (OSMs). OSMs include children within households even if they are too young for interview, i.e. younger than 15 years. ii) Any new members joining a household containing at least one OSM, are eligible for inclusion and are designated as new sample members (NSMs). iii) At each wave, all OSMs and NSMs are eligible for inclusion, apart from those who move outof-scope (see discussion below). iv) All household members aged 15 or over are eligible for interview, including OSMs and NSMs.

Following rules

The panel design provides that sample members who move from their previous wave address must be traced and followed to their new address for interview. In some cases the whole household will move together but in other cases an individual member may move away from their previous wave household and form a new "split-off" household of their own. All sample members, OSMs and NSMs, are followed at each wave and an interview attempted. This method has the benefits of maintaining the maximum number of respondents within the panel and being relatively straightforward to implement in the field.

Definition of 'out-of-scope'

It is important to maintain movers within the sample to maintain sample sizes and reduce attrition and also for substantive research on patterns of geographical mobility and migration. The rules for determining when a respondent is 'out-of-scope' are:

i. Movers out of the country altogether i.e. outside BiH This category of mover is clear. Sample members moving to another country outside BiH will be out-of-scope for that year of the survey and ineligible for interview.

ii. Movers between entities Respondents moving between entities are followed for interview. Personal details of "movers" are passed between the statistical institutes and an interviewer assigned in that entity.

iii. Movers into institutions Although institutional addresses were not included in the original LSMS sample, Wave 4 individuals who have subsequently moved into some institutions are followed. The definitions for which institutions are included are found in the Supervisor Instructions.

iv. Movers into the district of Brcko
Are followed for interview. When coding, Brcko is treated as the entity from which the household moved.

Feed-forward

Details of the address at which respondents were found in the previous wave, together with a listing of household members found in each household at the last wave were fed-forward as the starting point for Wave 4 fieldwork. This "feed-forward" data also includes key variables required for correctly identifying individual sample members and includes the following: - For each household: Household ID (IDD); Full address details and phone number - For each Original Sample Member: Name; Person number (ID); unique personal identifier (LID); Sex; Date of birth

The sample details are held in an Access database and in order to ensure the confidentiality of respondents, personal details, names and addresses are held separately from the survey data collected during fieldwork. The IDD, LID and ID are the key linking variables between the two databases i.e. the name and address database and the survey database.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Approximately 70% of the questionnaire was based on the Wave 3 questionnaire, carrying forward core measures in order to measure change over time. However in order to develop base line (2004) data on poverty, incomes and socio-economic conditions, and to begin to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the BiHDS the Wave 4 questionnaire additionally contained the Wave 1 Consumption module and a few other LSMS items to allow direct comparability with the Wave 1 data.

Cleaning operations

Dat entry

As at previous waves, CSPro was the chosen data entry software. The CSPro program consists of two main features intended to reduce the number of keying errors and to reduce the editing required following data entry:
- Data entry screens that included all skip patterns. - Range checks for each question (allowing three exceptions for inappropriate, don't know and missing codes).

The Wave 4 data entry program had similar checks to the Wave 3 program - and DE staff were instructed to clear all anomalies with SIG fieldwork members. The program was tested prior to the commencement of data entry. Twelve data entry staff were employed in each Field Office, as all had worked on previous waves training was not undertaken.

Editing

Instructions for editing were provided in the Supervisors Instructions. At Wave 4 supervisors were asked to take more time to edit every questionnaire returned by their interviewers. The SIG Fieldwork Managers examined every Control Form.

Response rate

The level of cases that were unable to be traced is extremely low as are the whole household refusal or non-contact rates. In total, 9128 individuals (including children) were enumerated within the sample households at Wave 4, 5019 individuals in the FBiH and 4109 in the RS. Within in the 2875 eligible households, 7603 individuals aged 15 or over were eligible for interview with 7116 (93.6%) being successfully interviewed. Within co-operating households (where there was at least one interview) the interview rate was

Abstract

In 2001, the World Bank in co-operation with the Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics (RSIS), the Federal Institute of Statistics (FOS) and the Agency for Statistics of BiH (BHAS), carried out a Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS). The Living Standard Measurement Survey LSMS, in addition to collecting the information necessary to obtain a comprehensive as possible measure of the basic dimensions of household living standards, has three basic objectives, as follows:

1. To provide the public sector, government, the business community, scientific institutions, international donor organizations and social organizations with information on different indicators of the population's living conditions, as well as on available resources for satisfying basic needs.

2. To provide information for the evaluation of the results of different forms of government policy and programs developed with the aim to improve the population's living standard. The survey will enable the analysis of the relations between and among different aspects of living standards (housing, consumption, education, health, labor) at a given time, as well as within a household.

3. To provide key contributions for development of government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, based on analyzed data.

The Department for International Development, UK (DFID) contributed funding to the LSMS and provided funding for a further two years of data collection for a panel survey, known as the Household Survey Panel Series (HSPS). Birks Sinclair & Associates Ltd. were responsible for the management of the HSPS with technical advice and support provided by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Essex, UK. The panel survey provides longitudinal data through re-interviewing approximately half the LSMS respondents for two years following the LSMS, in the autumn of 2002 and 2003. The LSMS constitutes Wave 1 of the panel survey so there are three years of panel data available for analysis. For the purposes of this documentation we are using the following convention to describe the different rounds of the panel survey: - Wave 1 LSMS conducted in 2001 forms the baseline survey for the panel - Wave 2 Second interview of 50% of LSMS respondents in Autumn/ Winter 2002 - Wave 3 Third interview with sub-sample respondents in Autumn/ Winter 2003

The panel data allows the analysis of key transitions and events over this period such as labour market or geographical mobility and observe the consequent outcomes for the well-being of individuals and households in the survey. The panel data provides information on income and labour market dynamics within FBiH and RS. A key policy area is developing strategies for the reduction of poverty within FBiH and RS. The panel will provide information on the extent to which continuous poverty is experienced by different types of households and individuals over the three year period. And most importantly, the co-variates associated with moves into and out of poverty and the relative risks of poverty for different people can be assessed. As such, the panel aims to provide data, which will inform the policy debates within FBiH and RS at a time of social reform and rapid change. KIND OF DATA

Geographic coverage

National coverage. Domains: Urban/rural/mixed; Federation; Republic

Analysis unit

Households

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The Wave 3 sample consisted of 2878 households who had been interviewed at Wave 2 and a further 73 households who were interviewed at Wave 1 but were non-contact at Wave 2 were issued. A total of 2951 households (1301 in the RS and 1650 in FBiH) were issued for Wave 3. As at Wave 2, the sample could not be replaced with any other households.

Panel design

Eligibility for inclusion

The household and household membership definitions are the same standard definitions as a Wave 2. While the sample membership status and eligibility for interview are as follows: i) All members of households interviewed at Wave 2 have been designated as original sample members (OSMs). OSMs include children within households even if they are too young for interview. ii) Any new members joining a household containing at least one OSM, are eligible for inclusion and are designated as new sample members (NSMs). iii) At each wave, all OSMs and NSMs are eligible for inclusion, apart from those who move outof-scope (see discussion below). iv) All household members aged 15 or over are eligible for interview, including OSMs and NSMs.

Following rules

The panel design means that sample members who move from their previous wave address must be traced and followed to their new address for interview. In some cases the whole household will move together but in others an individual member may move away from their previous wave household and form a new split-off household of their own. All sample members, OSMs and NSMs, are followed at each wave and an interview attempted. This method has the benefit of maintaining the maximum number of respondents within the panel and being relatively straightforward to implement in the field.

Definition of 'out-of-scope'

It is important to maintain movers within the sample to maintain sample sizes and reduce attrition and also for substantive research on patterns of geographical mobility and migration. The rules for determining when a respondent is 'out-of-scope' are as follows:

i. Movers out of the country altogether i.e. outside FBiH and RS. This category of mover is clear. Sample members moving to another country outside FBiH and RS will be out-of-scope for that year of the survey and not eligible for interview.

ii. Movers between entities Respondents moving between entities are followed for interview. The personal details of the respondent are passed between the statistical institutes and a new interviewer assigned in that entity.

iii. Movers into institutions Although institutional addresses were not included in the original LSMS sample, Wave 3 individuals who have subsequently moved into some institutions are followed. The definitions for which institutions are included are found in the Supervisor Instructions.

iv. Movers into the district of Brcko are followed for interview. When coding entity Brcko is treated as the entity from which the household who moved into Brcko originated.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Cleaning operations

Data entry

As at Wave 2 CSPro was the chosen data entry software. The CSPro program consists of two main features to reduce to number of keying errors and to reduce the editing required following data entry: - Data entry screens that included all skip patterns. - Range checks for each question (allowing three exceptions for inappropriate, don't know and missing codes). The Wave 3 data entry program had more checks than at Wave 2 and DE staff were instructed to get all anomalies cleared by SIG fieldwork. The program was extensively tested prior to DE. Ten computer staff were employed in each Field Office and as all had worked on Wave 2 training was not undertaken.

Editing

Editing Instructions were compiled (Annex G) and sent to Supervisors. For Wave 3 Supervisors were asked to take more time to edit every questionnaire returned by their interviewers. The FBTSA examined the work twelve of the twenty-two Supervisors. All Supervisors made occasional errors with the Control Form so a further 100% check of Control Forms and Module 1 was undertaken by the FBTSA and SIG members.

Response rate

The panel survey has enjoyed high response rates throughout the three years of data collection with the wave 3 response rates being slightly higher than those achieved at wave 2. At wave 3, 1650 households in the FBiH and 1300 households in the RS were issued for interview. Since there may be new households created from split-off movers it is possible for the number of households to increase during fieldwork. A similar number of new households were formed in each entity; 62 in the FBiH and 63 in the RS. This means that 3073 households were identified during fieldwork. Of these, 3003 were eligible for interview, 70 households having either moved out of BiH, institutionalised or deceased (34 in the RS and 36 in the FBiH).

Interviews were achieved in 96% of eligible households, an extremely high response rate by international standards for a survey of this type.

In total, 8712 individuals (including children) were enumerated within the sample households (4796 in the FBiH and 3916 in the RS). Within in the 3003 eligible households, 7781 individuals aged 15 or over were eligible for interview with 7346 (94.4%) being successfully interviewed. Within cooperating households (where there was at least one interview) the interview rate was higher (98.8%).

A very important measure in longitudinal surveys is the annual individual re-interview rate. This is because a high attrition rate, where large numbers of respondents drop out of the survey over time, can call into question the quality of the data collected. In BiH the individual re-interview rates have been high for the survey. The individual re-interview rate is the proportion of people who gave an interview at time t-1 who also give an interview at t. Of those who gave a full interview at wave 2, 6653 also gave a full interview at wave 3. This represents a re-interview rate of 97.9% - which is extremely high by international standards. When we look at those respondents who have been interviewed at all three years of the survey there are 6409 cases which are available for longitudinal analysis, 2881 in the RS and 3528 in the FBiH. This represents 82.8% of the responding wave 1 sample, a

In 2001, the World Bank in co-operation with the Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics (RSIS), the Federal Institute of Statistics (FOS) and the Agency for Statistics of BiH (BHAS), carried out a Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS). The Living Standard Measurement Survey LSMS, in addition to collecting the information necessary to obtain a comprehensive as possible measure of the basic dimensions of household living standards, has three basic objectives, as follows: 1. To provide the public sector, government, the business community, scientific institutions, international donor organizations and social organizations with information on different indicators of the population's living conditions, as well as on available resources for satisfying basic needs. 2. To provide information for the evaluation of the results of different forms of government policy and programs developed with the aim to improve the population's living standard. The survey will enable the analysis of the relations between and among different aspects of living standards (housing, consumption, education, health, labor) at a given time, as well as within a household. 3. To provide key contributions for development of government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, based on analyzed data. The Department for International Development, UK (DFID) contributed funding to the LSMS and provided funding for a further two years of data collection for a panel survey, known as the Household Survey Panel Series (HSPS). Birks Sinclair & Associates Ltd. were responsible for the management of the HSPS with technical advice and support provided by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Essex, UK. The panel survey provides longitudinal data through re-interviewing approximately half the LSMS respondents for two years following the LSMS, in the autumn of 2002 and 2003. The LSMS constitutes Wave 1 of the panel survey so there are three years of panel data available for analysis. For the purposes of this documentation we are using the following convention to describe the different rounds of the panel survey: Wave 1 LSMS conducted in 2001 forms the baseline survey for the panel Wave 2 Second interview of 50% of LSMS respondents in Autumn/ Winter 2002 Wave 3 Third interview with sub-sample respondents in Autumn/ Winter 2003 The panel data allows the analysis of key transitions and events over this period such as labour market or geographical mobility and observe the consequent outcomes for the well-being of individuals and households in the survey. The panel data provides information on income and labour market dynamics within FBiH and RS. A key policy area is developing strategies for the reduction of poverty within FBiH and RS. The panel will provide information on the extent to which continuous poverty is experienced by different types of households and individuals over the three year period. And most importantly, the co-variates associated with moves into and out of poverty and the relative risks of poverty for different people can be assessed. As such, the panel aims to provide data, which will inform the policy debates within FBiH and RS at a time of social reform and rapid change.

Abstract

In 2001, the World Bank in co-operation with the Republika Srpska Institute for Statistics (RSIS), the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) and the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHAS), carried out a Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS).

The Living Standard Measurement Survey LSMS, in addition to collecting the information necessary to obtain a comprehensive as possible measure of the basic dimensions of household living standards, has three basic objectives, as follows: 1. To provide the public sector, government, the business community, scientific institutions, international donor organizations and social organizations with information on different indicators of the population's living conditions, as well as on available resources for satisfying basic needs. 2. To provide information for the evaluation of the results of different forms of government policy and programs developed with the aim to improve the population's living standard. The survey will enable the analysis of the relations between and among different aspects of living standards (housing, consumption, education, health, labor) at a given time, as well as within a household. 3. To provide key contributions for development of government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, based on analyzed data.

The Department for International Development, UK (DFID) contributed funding to the LSMS and is also providing funding for a further two years of data collection for a panel survey, to be known as the Household Survey Panel Series (HSPS). Birks Sinclair & Associates Ltd. are responsible for the management of the HSPS with technical advice and support being provided by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Essex, UK.

The aim of the panel survey is to provide longitudinal data through re-interviewing approximately half the LSMS respondents for two years following the LSMS, in the autumn of 2002 and again in 2003. The LSMS constitutes wave 1 of the panel survey so there will be three years of panel data available for analysis under current funding plans. For the purposes of this document we are using the following convention to describe the different rounds of the panel survey: Wave 1 LSMS conducted in 2001 forms the baseline survey for the panel Wave 2 Second interview of 50% of LSMS respondents in Autumn/Winter 2002 Wave 3 Third interview with sub-sample respondents in Autumn/Winter 2003

The panel data will allow the analysis of key transitions and events over this period such as labour market or geographical mobility and observe the consequent outcomes for the well-being of individuals and households in the survey.

The panel data will provide information on income and labour market dynamics within FBiH and RS. A key policy area is developing strategies for the reduction of poverty within FBiH and RS. The panel will provide information on the extent to which continuous poverty is experienced by different types of households and individuals over the three year period. And most importantly, the co-variates associated with moves into and out of poverty and the relative risks of poverty for different people can be assessed. As such, the panel aims to provide data, which will inform the policy debates within FBiH and RS at a time of social reform and rapid change.

Geographic coverage

National coverage. Domains: Urban/rural/mixed; Federation, Republic

Analysis unit

• Households
• Individuals

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The panel survey sample is made up of over 3,000 households drawn from the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) conducted by the World Bank in co-operation with the SIs in 2002. Approximately half the households interviewed on the LSMS were selected and carried forward into the panel survey. These households were re-interviewed in 2003 and will be interviewed for a third time in September 2004.

Sampling Frame

The 5,400 households interviewed on LSMS formed the sampling frame for the panel survey. The aim was to achieve interviews with approximately half of these (2,700) at wave 2 (1,500 in FBiH and 1,200 in RS). A response rate of 90% was anticipated (as the sample is based on households that have already co-operated with LSMS) and therefore the selected sample consisted of 3,000 households. Unlike the LSMS, the HSPS does not have a replacement element to the sample, only the original 3,000 issued addresses. This approach was new to the Supervisors and Interviewers and special training was given on how to keep non-response to a minimum.

The LSMS Sample

The LSMS sample design process experienced some difficulties which resulted in a sample with a disproportionately high number of households being selected in urban areas. Work by Peter Lynn from ISER identified the source of this problem by establishing the selection probabilities at each stage of the LSMS sampling process. Essentially, the procedures used for selecting households within municipalities would have been appropriate had municipalities been selected with equal probabilities. But in fact municipalities had been selected with probability proportional to size, and using different overall sampling fractions in each of three strata. The details are documented in a memo by Peter Lynn dated 25-3-2002. Consequently, household selection probabilities varied considerably across municipalities.

Compensating for the LSMS sample imbalance

Having established the selection probability of every LSMS household, it became possible to derive design-based weights that should provide unbiased estimates for LSMS. However, the considerable variability in these weights means that the variance of estimates (and hence standard errors and confidence intervals) is greatly increased. For the HSPS, there was an opportunity to reduce the variability in weights by constructing the subsample in a way that minimised the variability in overall selection probabilities. The overall selection probability for each household would be the product of two probabilities - the probability of being selected for LSMS, and the probability of being selected for HSPS, conditional upon having been selected for LSMS, i.e. P(HSPS) = P(LSMS) * P(HSPS)/(LSMS)

Ideally, then, we would have set the values of P(HSPS)/(LSMS) to be inversely proportional to P(LSMS). This would have resulted in each HSPS household having the same overall selection probability, P(HSPS), so that there would no longer be an increase in the variance of estimates due to variability in selection probabilities. However, this was not possible due to the very considerable variation in P(LSMS) and the limited flexibility provided by a large overall sampling fraction for HSPS (3,000 out of 5,400).

The best that could be done was to minimise the variability in sampling fractions by retaining all the LSMS households in the (mainly rural or mixed urban/rural) municipalities where LSMS household selection probabilities had been lowest and sub-sampling only in the municipalities where LSMS selection probabilities had been much higher. In 16 of the 25 LSMS municipalities, all households were retained for HSPS. In the other 9 municipalities, households were sub-sampled, with sampling fractions ranging from 83% in Travnik to just 25% in Banja Luka and Tuzla.

To select the required number of households within each municipality, every group of enumeration districts (GND) was retained from LSMS. The sub-sampling took place within the GNDs. Households were sub-sampled using systematic random sampling, with a random start and fixed interval. For example, in Novo Sarajevo, where the sampling fraction was 1 in 2, 6 households were selected out of the 12 LSMS households in each GND by selecting alternate households. In Prijedor, where the fraction was 1 in 3, 4 out of 12 were selected by taking every third LSMS household. And so on.

The total selected sample for the HSPS consists of 3,007 households (1681 in the FBIH and 1326 in the RS).

The overall design weight for the HSPS sample will be the product of the LSMS weight for the household and this extra design weight (which will of course tend to increase the size of the smallest LSMS weights).

Panel design

Eligibility for inclusion

The household and household membership definitions are the same standard definitions as used on the LSMS (see Supervisor Instructions, Annex A). While the sample membership status and eligibility for interview are as follows: i) All members of households interviewed at wave 1 (LSMS) have been designated as original sample members (OSMs). OSMs include children within households even if they are too young for interview. ii) Any new members joining a household containing at least one OSM, are eligible for inclusion and are designated as new sample members (NSMs). iii) At each wave, all OSMs and NSMs are eligible for inclusion, apart from those who move outof-scope (see discussion below). iv) All household members aged 15 or over are eligible for interview, including OSMs and NSMs.

Following rules and the definition of 'out-of-scope'

The panel design means that sample members who move from their previous wave address at either wave 2 or 3 must be traced and followed to their new address for interview. The LSMS sample was clustered and over the two waves of the panel some de-clustering will occur as people move. In some cases the whole household will move together but in others an individual member may move away from their previous wave household and form a new split-off household of their own.

Following rules

All sample members, OSMs and NSMs, are followed at each wave and an interview attempted. This means that a four person household at Wave 1 could generate

In 2001, the World Bank in co-operation with the Republika Srpska Institute for Statistics (RSIS), the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) and the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHAS), carried out a Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS). The Living Standard Measurement Survey LSMS, in addition to collecting the information necessary to obtain a comprehensive as possible measure of the basic dimensions of household living standards, has three basic objectives, as follows: 1. To provide the public sector, government, the business community, scientific institutions, international donor organizations and social organizations with information on different indicators of the population's living conditions, as well as on available resources for satisfying basic needs. 2. To provide information for the evaluation of the results of different forms of government policy and programs developed with the aim to improve the population's living standard. The survey will enable the analysis of the relations between and among different aspects of living standards (housing, consumption, education, health, labor) at a given time, as well as within a household. 3. To provide key contributions for development of government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, based on analyzed data. The Department for International Development, UK (DFID) contributed funding to the LSMS and is also providing funding for a further two years of data collection for a panel survey, to be known as the Household Survey Panel Series (HSPS). Birks Sinclair & Associates Ltd. are responsible for the management of the HSPS with technical advice and support being provided by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Essex, UK. The aim of the panel survey is to provide longitudinal data through re-interviewing approximately half the LSMS respondents for two years following the LSMS, in the autumn of 2002 and again in 2003. The LSMS constitutes wave 1 of the panel survey so there will be three years of panel data available for analysis under current funding plans. For the purposes of this document we are using the following convention to describe the different rounds of the panel survey: Wave 1 LSMS conducted in 2001 forms the baseline survey for the panel Wave 2 Second interview of 50% of LSMS respondents in Autumn/Winter 2002 Wave 3 Third interview with sub-sample respondents in Autumn/Winter 2003 The panel data will allow the analysis of key transitions and events over this period such as labour market or geographical mobility and observe the consequent outcomes for the well-being of individuals and households in the survey. The panel data will provide information on income and labour market dynamics within FBiH and RS. A key policy area is developing strategies for the reduction of poverty within FBiH and RS. The panel will provide information on the extent to which continuous poverty is experienced by different types of households and individuals over the three year period. And most importantly, the co-variates associated with moves into and out of poverty and the relative risks of poverty for different people can be assessed. As such, the panel aims to provide data, which will inform the policy debates within FBiH and RS at a time of social reform and rapid change.

Abstract

In 2001, the World Bank in co-operation with the Republika Srpska Institute for Statistics (RSIS), the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) and the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHAS), carried out a Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS).

The Living Standard Measurement Survey LSMS, in addition to collecting the information necessary to obtain a comprehensive as possible measure of the basic dimensions of household living standards, has three basic objectives, as follows: 1. To provide the public sector, government, the business community, scientific institutions, international donor organizations and social organizations with information on different indicators of the population's living conditions, as well as on available resources for satisfying basic needs. 2. To provide information for the evaluation of the results of different forms of government policy and programs developed with the aim to improve the population's living standard. The survey will enable the analysis of the relations between and among different aspects of living standards (housing, consumption, education, health, labor) at a given time, as well as within a household. 3. To provide key contributions for development of government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, based on analyzed data.

The Department for International Development, UK (DFID) contributed funding to the LSMS and is also providing funding for a further two years of data collection for a panel survey, to be known as the Household Survey Panel Series (HSPS). Birks Sinclair & Associates Ltd. are responsible for the management of the HSPS with technical advice and support being provided by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Essex, UK.

The aim of the panel survey is to provide longitudinal data through re-interviewing approximately half the LSMS respondents for two years following the LSMS, in the autumn of 2002 and again in 2003. The LSMS constitutes wave 1 of the panel survey so there will be three years of panel data available for analysis under current funding plans. For the purposes of this document we are using the following convention to describe the different rounds of the panel survey: Wave 1 LSMS conducted in 2001 forms the baseline survey for the panel Wave 2 Second interview of 50% of LSMS respondents in Autumn/Winter 2002 Wave 3 Third interview with sub-sample respondents in Autumn/Winter 2003

The panel data will allow the analysis of key transitions and events over this period such as labour market or geographical mobility and observe the consequent outcomes for the well-being of individuals and households in the survey.

The panel data will provide information on income and labour market dynamics within FBiH and RS. A key policy area is developing strategies for the reduction of poverty within FBiH and RS. The panel will provide information on the extent to which continuous poverty is experienced by different types of households and individuals over the three year period. And most importantly, the co-variates associated with moves into and out of poverty and the relative risks of poverty for different people can be assessed. As such, the panel aims to provide data, which will inform the policy debates within FBiH and RS at a time of social reform and rapid change.

Geographic coverage

National coverage. Domains: Urban/rural/mixed; Federation, Republic

Analysis unit

Households, Individuals

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The panel survey sample is made up of over 3,000 households drawn from the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) conducted by the World Bank in co-operation with the SIs in 2002. Approximately half the households interviewed on the LSMS were selected and carried forward into the panel survey. These households were re-interviewed in 2003 and will be interviewed for a third time in September 2004.

Sampling Frame

The 5,400 households interviewed on LSMS formed the sampling frame for the panel survey. The aim was to achieve interviews with approximately half of these (2,700) at wave 2 (1,500 in FBiH and 1,200 in RS). A response rate of 90% was anticipated (as the sample is based on households that have already co-operated with LSMS) and therefore the selected sample consisted of 3,000 households. Unlike the LSMS, the HSPS does not have a replacement element to the sample, only the original 3,000 issued addresses. This approach was new to the Supervisors and Interviewers and special training was given on how to keep non-response to a minimum.

The LSMS Sample

The LSMS sample design process experienced some difficulties which resulted in a sample with a disproportionately high number of households being selected in urban areas. Work by Peter Lynn from ISER identified the source of this problem by establishing the selection probabilities at each stage of the LSMS sampling process. Essentially, the procedures used for selecting households within municipalities would have been appropriate had municipalities been selected with equal probabilities. But in fact municipalities had been selected with probability proportional to size, and using different overall sampling fractions in each of three strata. The details are documented in a memo by Peter Lynn dated 25-3-2002. Consequently, household selection probabilities varied considerably across municipalities.

Compensating for the LSMS sample imbalance

Having established the selection probability of every LSMS household, it became possible to derive design-based weights that should provide unbiased estimates for LSMS. However, the considerable variability in these weights means that the variance of estimates (and hence standard errors and confidence intervals) is greatly increased. For the HSPS, there was an opportunity to reduce the variability in weights by constructing the subsample in a way that minimised the variability in overall selection probabilities. The overall selection probability for each household would be the product of two probabilities - the probability of being selected for LSMS, and the probability of being selected for HSPS, conditional upon having been selected for LSMS, i.e. P(HSPS) = P(LSMS) * P(HSPS)/(LSMS)

Ideally, then, we would have set the values of P(HSPS)/(LSMS) to be inversely proportional to P(LSMS). This would have resulted in each HSPS household having the same overall selection probability, P(HSPS), so that there would no longer be an increase in the variance of estimates due to variability in selection probabilities. However, this was not possible due to the very considerable variation in P(LSMS) and the limited flexibility provided by a large overall sampling fraction for HSPS (3,000 out of 5,400).

The best that could be done was to minimise the variability in sampling fractions by retaining all the LSMS households in the (mainly rural or mixed urban/rural) municipalities where LSMS household selection probabilities had been lowest and sub-sampling only in the municipalities where LSMS selection probabilities had been much higher. In 16 of the 25 LSMS municipalities, all households were retained for HSPS. In the other 9 municipalities, households were sub-sampled, with sampling fractions ranging from 83% in Travnik to just 25% in Banja Luka and Tuzla.

To select the required number of households within each municipality, every group of enumeration districts (GND) was retained from LSMS. The sub-sampling took place within the GNDs. Households were sub-sampled using systematic random sampling, with a random start and fixed interval. For example, in Novo Sarajevo, where the sampling fraction was 1 in 2, 6 households were selected out of the 12 LSMS households in each GND by selecting alternate households. In Prijedor, where the fraction was 1 in 3, 4 out of 12 were selected by taking every third LSMS household. And so on.

The total selected sample for the HSPS consists of 3,007 households (1681 in the FBIH and 1326 in the RS).

The overall design weight for the HSPS sample will be the product of the LSMS weight for the household and this extra design weight (which will of course tend to increase the size of the smallest LSMS weights).

Panel design

Eligibility for inclusion

The household and household membership definitions are the same standard definitions as used on the LSMS (see Supervisor Instructions, Annex A). While the sample membership status and eligibility for interview are as follows: i) All members of households interviewed at wave 1 (LSMS) have been designated as original sample members (OSMs). OSMs include children within households even if they are too young for interview. ii) Any new members joining a household containing at least one OSM, are eligible for inclusion and are designated as new sample members (NSMs). iii) At each wave, all OSMs and NSMs are eligible for inclusion, apart from those who move outof-scope (see discussion below). iv) All household members aged 15 or over are eligible for interview, including OSMs and NSMs.

Following rules and the definition of 'out-of-scope'

The panel design means that sample members who move from their previous wave address at either wave 2 or 3 must be traced and followed to their new address for interview. The LSMS sample was clustered and over the two waves of the panel some de-clustering will occur as people move. In some cases the whole household will move together but in others an individual member may move away from their previous wave household and form a new split-off household of their own.

Following rules

All sample members, OSMs and NSMs, are followed at each wave and an interview attempted. This means that a four person household at Wave 1 could generate three additional households at wave 2 if three members, either OSMs or