bottom code for income variables (1980)

USA
1

Hi,

for 1980 income variables, it is stated that while the bottom codes for INCTOT, INCBUS, INCFARM, INCINVST are $-9,900, $9,900 is coded as -09995. So after I got the data on STATA, what I did was convert all -9995s into -9900s. However, even after doing that, as you can see in the picture below, there were still values smaller than -9,900 (or larger in absolute values), which I thought contradicts the bottom code. Should I also consider them as -$9,900 and convert them to -9,900 as well?

Thanks

2

A few quick corrections should resolve this issue. Note that the bottom code for INCTOT, INCFARM, and INCINVEST in 1980 indicates a value less than $-9,990; rather than $-9,900. On the other hand, the bottom code for INCBUS in 1980 indicates a value less than $-9,900.

3

But doesn’t the bottom code being -$9,900 imply that any values less than -$9,900 will be coded as -9,900 in the data itself?

4

Apologies for reviving a thread from so many years ago. I think there might be a typo in the INCBUS code description, which says:

INCBUS Specific Variable Codes
-09995 = -$9,900 (1970)
999999 = N/A

The bottom code looks like it should apply to 1980, not 1970. For reference, the minimum value for INCBUS in the 1970 (1% Metro, Form 1 and Form 2) sample is -9900; the minimum value for both INCBUS and INCFARM in the 1980 (5% State) sample is -9995.

5

Thank you for bringing this discrepancy to our attention. Based on a review of the 1970 and 1980 PUMS documentation, -9900 is indeed the smallest value in the 1970 samples and refers to a loss of $9,900 or more; -9995 refers to a loss of $9,900 or more in 1980. I am sharing a note with my colleagues to explore imposing additional consistency in this bottom-coded value across years.