The decline in establishment reporting: impact on CWHS industrial and geographic data.

Almost since the beginning of its program operations, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has collected location and type of business data from employers-as a byproduct of the requirement that they report employee wages for benefit computation purposes. The agency has been able to draw on these statistical data for planning and policy analysis. Wage, location, and type of business data are associated with worker records in the SSA Continuous Work History Sample (CWHS). Wage data are received by SSA under one of two systems: Some employers with multiunit businesses voluntarily supply information through the Establishment Reporting Plan (ERP) with each establishment classified under a separate primary geographic location and industrial activity. All other employers report as single unit entities and are classified under one primary geographic location and industrial activity. For three decades, many multiunit employers elected the ERP to report wages. In the mid-1970’s, signs of declining participation became evident. In 1978, when SSA changed to annual wage reporting and asked employers to use magnetic media for their reports, a further significant decline in voluntary ERP reporting occurred. I Both the industrial and geographic classification of workers included in the CWHS have been affected by these declines. As employers moved from the ERP to single unit reporting, a significant “superficial” shift of workers’ geographic location to States in which corporate headquarters are located was noted. The impact on industrial classification was less severe.