Luxembourg Wealth Study – A case for increased ex ante comparability of data sources

This Annex describes the Luxembourg Wealth Study (LWS) Database in terms of experience in the process of ex post harmonisation. It presents the basic concepts and general principles applied by the LWS on household wealth, and it specifies the key definitions, standard components and standard classifications for wealth components. It also gives brief descriptions of the definitions of supplemental variables available in the LWS database, namely household income and consumption, labour market information and behavioural attitudes toward finance. It highlights the need for internationally agreed definitions of various household wealth components.