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Self-Reported vs. Objective Measures of Health in Retirement Models

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  • John Bound

Abstract

Labor supply estimates are sensitive to the measures of health used. When self reported measures are used health seems to playa larger role and economic factors a smaller one than when more objective measures are used" While most authors have interpreted these results as an indication of the biases inherent in using self-reported measures, there are reasons to be suspicious of estimates based on more objective measures as well. In this paper I construct a statistical model incorporating both self-reported and objective measures of health. I use the model to show the potential biases involved in using either measure of health or in using one to instrument the other- When outside information on the validity of self-reported measures of health are incorporated into the model estimates suggest that the self-reported measures of health perform better than many have believed.

Suggested Citation

  • John Bound, 1989. "Self-Reported vs. Objective Measures of Health in Retirement Models," NBER Working Papers 2997, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2997
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    4. Anna Zajacova & Jennifer Karas Montez & Pamela Herd, 2014. "Socioeconomic Disparities in Health Among Older Adults and the Implications for the Retirement Age Debate: A Brief Report," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 69(6), pages 973-978.
    5. Pak, Tae-Young & Babiarz, Patryk, 2018. "Does cognitive aging affect portfolio choice?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 1-12.
    6. Petru Crudu, 2023. "Long-term effects of early adverse labour market conditions: A Causal Machine Learning approach," Working Papers 2023:21, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    7. Nayoung Lee & Hyungsik Roger Moon, 2021. "Heterogeneous Income Profiles Model with Fixed Effects: Incorporating Labour Income Shocks," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(6), pages 1377-1407, December.
    8. HASHIMOTO Hideki, 2015. "Impacts of Leaving Paid Work on Health, Functions, and Lifestyle Behavior: Evidence from JSTAR panel data," Discussion papers 15114, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    9. Jonathan Gruber, 1998. "Health Insurance and the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 6762, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    11. Ebaidalla Mahjoub Ebaidalla & Mohammed Elhaj Mustafa Ali, 2018. "Chronic Illness and Labor Market Participation in Arab Countries: Evidence from Egypt and Tunisia," Working Papers 1229, Economic Research Forum, revised 10 Oct 2018.

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