Volume 30, Number 5 1995
Gustman, Alan L., Olivia S. Mitchell, and Thomas L. Steinmeier. 1995. "Retirement Research Using the Health and Retirement Study." Journal of Human Resources 30(5):S57-S83.
This paper highlights unanswered research questions in the economics of retirement and shows how these questions can be addressed using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Unique features of the survey are described, including administrative records on earnings and Social Security benefits and employer-provided data on pensions and health insurance. Also collected by the survey are indicators of retirement plans, health status, family structure, income, wealth, and employer policies affecting job opportunities and constraints. Data from the first wave of the HRS are used to analyze retirement outcomes and constraints shaping retirement behavior.
Alan L. Gustman is the Loren M. Berry Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research; Olivia S. Mitchell is International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor of Insurance and Risk Management and Executive Director of the Pension Research Council at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research; Thomas L. Steinmeier is a professor of economics at Texas Tech University. The authors acknowledge research support from the National Institute on Aging, the University of Michigan, and the Wharton School. Conclusions and interpretations are those of the authors. The data used in this article are from the alpha release of the HRS.
© 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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