Abstract
This paper applies the one-sided response and the randomized response models of Hsiao and Sun (1999) to investigate the response bias in the question ”whether at work” in the Taiwan Manpower Utilization Survey. Approximately 5% of ”yes” responses to the ”whether at work” question in the 1998 survey were found to be attributable to the bias of social desirability. Ignoring this bias leads to an underestimation of the influence of age, education and marital status on employment. Specifically, the employment levels of the aged population and married women were overrated. The findings suggest that when surveys invite socially sensitive answers, the class of estimation models that incorporates response biases should be used.