Volume 33, Number 2 (Spring) 1998: Attrition in Longitudinal Surveys

Zabel, Jeffrey E. 1998. "An Analysis of Attrition in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Survey of Income and Program Participation with an Application to a Model of Labor Market Behavior." Journal of Human Resources 33(2):479-506.

This paper analyzes attrition behavior in two major longitudinal surveys,the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). Significant indicators in a model of attrition include measures of mobility and variables that correspond to the interviewer and the interview process. There is evidence that surveys with more waves or higher frequency interviews experience higher attrition rates. The estimation results for a model of attrition and labor market behavior show little indication of bias due to attrition but there is evidence that the labor market behavior of attritors and nonattritors is different.

Jeffrey E. Zabel is an associate professor of economics at Tufts University. This paper was written while the author was a research fellow at the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The author wishes to thank Enrique Lamav, Lee Lillard, Amy Ellen Schwartz, and Dan Weinberg for useful comments and participants at the Centerfor Economic Studies, U.S. Bureau ofthe Census Seminar Series and the Conference on Attrition in Longitudinal Surveys. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Census Bureau or the Department of Commerce. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning July 1, 1998 until June 30, 2001 from the author at Department of Economics, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155.