# **4. Data**

We use two sets of surveys, the Household Expenditure Surveys (HESs) and the Labor Force Surveys (LFFs). The HESs are the surveys that contain our variable of interest (household expenditure). Hence they are used to construct and estimate the model that we rely on for imputation. The LFSs denote the surveys that are used to estimate poverty, based on imputed data, for time periods that are not covered by the HESs.

Strictly speaking, the HESs in Morocco include two different surveys; the 2000-2001 National Survey on Consumption and Expenditure (NSCE) and the 2006-2007 National Living Standards Survey (NLSS). Both samples measure household expenditure, are nationally and regionally representative as well as representative of urban and rural areas. **The 2000-2001 NSCE** covered 15,000 households and was administered between November 2000 and October 2001 with multiple objectives in mind. It was designed to measure household expenditure and to provide the necessary information to weigh the living standard index constructed for Morocco and other national accounts aggregates. It was also designed to measure household consumption, nutrition, poverty and inequality. The questionnaires included sections on socio-economic characteristics, habitat, energy, economic activities, education, health, transfers, subjective indicators of wellbeing, expenditure, durable goods, anthropometrics, nutrition and also a module administered to the community to measure access to services. **The 20062007 NLSS** covered 7,200 households and was administered between December 2006 and November 2007. The survey focused on household expenditure and revenues and was principally administered to measure poverty, inequality and other dimensions of living standards. The questionnaire included modules on socio-demographic characteristics, social mobility, habitat, expenditures, revenues, credits, transfers, education, health, employment, durable goods and poverty perceptions. The **Labor Force Surveys (LFSs)** of Morocco is a household survey covering all residents on the national territory. The sample size is 60,000 households, 40,000 urban and 20,000 rural, and contains information on all household members, approximately 270,000 individuals each year. This sample is divided into four equal independent sub-samples of 15,000 households each interviewed quarterly. Each sub-sample is representative at the national and regional level and by urban and rural areas. Since 2007, interviews are conducted all year long by means of a computerized system where data input occurs with smart phones, and where data input verification is carried out both automatically using specialized software and by supervisors in real time. This allows interviewers to correct most data input errors during the interview.

Since the introduction of the computerized system, half of the sample is renewed every year and, within each year, every quarter. Therefore, every year half of the households are re-interviewed which makes the survey a quarterly panel survey with one time lag of one year. It should be noted that the introduction of the computerized system in 2007 creates a potential discontinuity between the LFSs surveys before and after 2007. It is believed that the computerized administration has further improved the accuracy of the survey. We find however that the main labor force statistics are comparable over time.

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