We assess the quality of the HRS’s measures of out-of-pocket medical spending and health insurance premia, both in the “core interviews” and in the “exit interview” data. We provide detailed evidence on the quality of the HRS insurance premia data, and we compare the HRS exit data to exit data in the MCBS. We document how changes in survey questions, including the introduction of “unfolding brackets,” affect the HRS measures. We document what we believe are errors in the HRS imputations and provide some suggestions for improving the accuracy of some imputed variables. Overall, we find the HRS data to be of high quality. However, we believe that many interesting variables in the HRS are under-utilized because users must perform imputations themselves.
Authors
![Eric French](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-07/Eric_French.png?itok=BbO0XrCB)
CPP Co-Director
Eric is the Montague Burton Professor of Industrial Relations and Labour Economics at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Economics at UCL.
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
John Bailey Jones
![Jeremy McCauley](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-07/Jeremy%20McCauley.jpg?itok=yo30F1g4)
Research Associate University of Bristol
Jeremy is a Research Associate at IFS and an Assistant Professor at the University of Bristol with particular interest in public economics and health.
Journal article details
- DOI
- 10.1515/fhep-2017-0001
- Publisher
- De Gruyter
- Issue
- Volume Forthcoming, October 2017
Suggested citation
J, Bailey Jones and E, French and J, McCauley. (2017). 'The accuracy of economic measurement in the health and retirement study' Forthcoming(2017)
More from IFS
Understand this issue
![Ed Davey](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/Ed-Davey-.jpg?itok=ztS9cL-S)
Liberal Democrat manifesto: a reaction
10 June 2024
![Older couple signing document](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-01/older-couple-signing-document-2.jpg?itok=OOQ95aZx)
Why inheritance tax should be reformed
18 January 2024
![Pensions letter](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2023-12/Pensions%20Letter.jpg?itok=mv1QVYJO)
The future of the state pension
21 December 2023
Policy analysis
![Shopping street](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/Street-scene-.jpg?itok=R39cR6Xp)
How do the last five years measure up on levelling up?
19 June 2024
![Doctor patient consultation](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-12/Doctor-patient-consultation_0.jpg?itok=6MvhPZ62)
A response to the Conservatives’ proposals to reduce growth in the health-related benefits bill
8 June 2024
![Elderly couple looking at paperwork](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/elderly%20couple%20feature.jpg?itok=6tgAqkZa)
Pensions: five key decisions for the next government
7 June 2024
Academic research
![Working Paper Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/2024-05/WP202421-The-role-of-hospital-networks-in-individual-mortality_Page_01.jpg?itok=BudO5o_w)
The role of hospital networks in individual mortality
13 May 2024
![Working Paper Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/2024-05/WP202419-Forced-displacement-mental-health-and-child-development-evidence-from-the-rohingya-refugees_Page_01.jpg?itok=ZnUTIDEq)
Forced displacement, mental health, and child development: Evidence from Rohingya refugees
10 May 2024
![Working paper cover](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/2024-03/WP202406-The-consequences-of-miscarriage-on-parental-investments_0.jpg?itok=vOTd1-sI)
The consequences of miscarriage on parental investments
22 March 2024