Intergenerational Transfers in the Health and Retirement Study Data

Many economic analyses of public policy issues are based upon the life-cycle model of household behavior. The usual formulation omits private intergenerational transfers. This paper considers the possibility of a more sophisticated formulation that includes the latter. We examine 1992-2008 HRS data on inheritances and inter vivos gifts. We uncover an underreporting problem in the data: a household’s financial respondent often seems to understate transfers from his/her in-laws. Nevertheless, other aspects of the data seem very useful. About 30-40 percent of households eventually inherit. Inheritances seem to reflect a mixture of intentional and accidental bequests, with the latter twice as prevalent.

Effects of invasive Typha on aquatic environments and biota

Rivers, Lakes, and WetlandsInvasive cattail hybrids, Typha X glauca, pose a significant threat to the biodiversity of northern Michigan coastal wetlands. Typha quickly dominates the environment, leading to a decrease in local plant diversity. In this study, we examined whether the presence of invasive Typha led to a decrease in aquatic macroinvertebrate abundance and diversity, changes in chlorophyll-a content, and/or changes in nutrient levels at a coastal wetland in St. Ignace, MI. We collected and compared samples from three plots where Typha was absent and three plots where Typha had already invaded and established itself. Typha-invaded waters showed a significantly lower abundance (Z=-3.38, p=0.001) and diversity (t=4.55, df=22, p<0.000) of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Contrarily, we observed no significant difference in chlorophyll-a content (Z=0, p=1), nitrate (t=-0.478 df= 4 p=0.658), ammonium (t=-.336 df=4 p=.754), phosphate (t=-0.79 df= 4 p=0.474, and total phosphorus (t= -.085 df=4 p=.936). Our results suggest that Typha invasion is detrimental to the fitness of many different macroinvertebrate taxa by dramatically altering the environment while leaving the nutrient levels and abundance of algae unchanged.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143563/1/Sonnega_2017.pd

WP 2018-392

Due to advances in computing power and the increase in coverage of longitudinal datasets in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) that provide information about detailed occupations, demand has increased among researchers for improved occupation and industry data. The detailed data are currently hard to use because they were coded at different times, and the codeframes are, therefore, not consistent over time. Additionally, the HRS gathers new occupation and industry information from respondents every two years, and coding of new data at each wave is costly and time-consuming. In this project, we tested the NIOSH Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System (NIOCCS) to see if it could improve processes for coding data from the HRS. We tested results from NIOCCS against results from a human coder for multiple datasets. NIOCCs does reasonably well compared to coding results from a highly-trained, professional occupation and industry coder, with kappa inter-rater reliability on detailed codes of just under 70 percent and agreement rates on broader codes of around 80 percent; however, code rates for NIOCCS for the datasets tested ranged from 60 percent to 72 percent, as compared to a professional coder’s ability to code those same datasets that ranged from 95 percent to 100 percent. In its current form, we find that NIOCCS is a tool that might be best used to reduce the number of cases human coders must code, either in coding historical data to a consistent codeframe or in coding data from future HRS waves. However, it is not yet ready to fully replace human coders.U.S. Social Security Administration, Award number RRC08098401-10, R-UM18-06https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148129/1/wp392.pd

WP 2017-375

This study is a literature review of research related to the characteristics of second careers undertaken after mid-life. There is a significant lack of literature directly on this topic, so we draw substantially from the literatures about retirement, bridge jobs, encore jobs, and unretirement. First, we provide a working definition of second careers after mid-life. We then provide a brief background of the existing theoretical research related to this topic, which is also in need of updating and synthesis. We find evidence that second careers may already be common, but likely are undertaken by less than half of older workers. For older workers in general, job flexibility and lower stress seem to be particularly prized job characteristics that they seem willing to trade off against earnings, benefits, and prestige. However, individual fit is also likely to be particularly important in learning about second careers. We also find useful information in studies of specific early-retiring occupations and destination second careers. Based on the existing general, late-life labor supply literature and specific occupation literature, we propose new directions for research. An important take-away is that data limitations have been a roadblock; however, forthcoming resources may help open up this area of research.Social Security Administration, RRC08098401-09, R-UM17-Q2https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142390/1/wp375.pdfDescription of wp375.pdf : Working pape

WP 2015-331

Population aging and attendant pressures on public budgets have spurred considerable interest in understanding factors that influence retirement timing. A range of sociodemographic and economic characteristics have been shown to predict both earlier and later retirement. Less is known about the role of occupations and their characteristics on the work choices of older workers. Knowing more about the occupations that workers seem to stay in longer or leave earlier may point the way to policy interventions that are beneficial to both individuals and system finances. This project uses detailed occupational categories and work characteristics in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) linked to information in the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) to examine compositional changes in occupations held by older workers over time; to provide some basic and interesting information about relationships between occupations and their characteristics and retirement expectations and outcomes; and to shed some light on which occupations and associated characteristics might encourage or discourage longer working lives. There are large percentage changes (increases in decreases) in the percentage of older workers in occupations over time. Considering detailed as opposed to aggregated occupational categories yields interesting additional information. Jobs that HRS respondents say entail less physical effort, less stress, and jobs that have not increased in difficulty in recent decades, and those in which people can reduce hours if desired, are associated with longer work. While the traditional blue collar-retire earlier and white collar-work longer associations emerge, we find interesting exceptions that suggest fruitful directions for future research.Social Security Administration5 RRC08098401-07http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117396/1/wp331.pd

Motives for Bequests within the Middle Class

Working Paper: WP 2012-275The life-cycle model of household behavior forms the basis for most economic analysis of Social Security, private pensions, and retirement. This project seeks to extend the usefulness of the life-cycle model by considering the role of middle-class inheritances and bequests. We use HRS data. Prior work by the authors identifies key information in the HRS on the sources of private intergenerational transfers, and it shows that the frequency of couples’ inheritances from both spouses’ family lines is higher than random behavior would imply. Using additional HRS data on the ratio of parent-to-child lifetime incomes, we analyze the motives behind HRS bequests. We find support for an unintentional transfer model in which bequests arise from residual, unspent parent life-cycle resources. And, we show that our model can account for the frequency of dual inheritances that earlier work revealed.Social Security Administrationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95713/1/wp275.pdf2

Intergenerational Transfers in the Health and Retirement Study Data

Many economic analyses of public policy issues are based upon the life-cycle model of household behavior. The usual formulation omits private intergenerational transfers. This paper considers the possibility of a more sophisticated formulation that includes the latter. We examine 1992-2008 HRS data on inheritances and inter vivos gifts. We uncover an underreporting problem in the data: a household’s financial respondent often seems to understate transfers from his/her in-laws. Nevertheless, other aspects of the data seem very useful. About 30-40 percent of households eventually inherit. Inheritances seem to reflect a mixture of intentional and accidental bequests, with the latter twice as prevalent.Social Security Administrationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78355/1/wp238.pd

Management of slipped capital femoral epiphysis: results of a survey of the members of the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society

AIM: To determine current practice recommendations for the treatment of slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) among members of the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society (EPOS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire with 4 case vignettes of a 12-year-old boy presenting with a stable and unstable SCFE. Each, stable and unstable slips, was of mild (20° epiphyseal-shaft angle) and of severe (60° epiphyseal-shaft angle) degree was sent to all members of EPOS in 2009 in order to ascertain their views on the best management of SCFE. Specifically, respondents were asked about the role of reduction, methods of fixation, prophylactic fixation of the non-affected hip, postoperative management and their view on the anticipated need for secondary surgery. RESULTS: The response rate was 25% (72/287). The participating surgeons' average workload was 76% in paediatric orthopaedics, with mean 16 years of experience. Surgeons were most consistent in their advice for stable slips, where around 90% of the respondents did not recommend a reduction of the slip regardless of severity of slip. Seventy per cent of the respondents recommended the use of only one screw for fixation of a stable slip and for mild unstable slips. For severe unstable slips, 46% of surgeons recommended reduction only by positioning of the hip on the fracture table, 35% by manipulation and 11% advised open reduction. Responders were less consistent in their advice on the anticipated need for secondary osteotomies (in mild slips about 40% and about 60% in severe slips would advise an osteotomy) and on treatment of the contralateral hip (with 32% of surgeons recommending prophylactic fixation of the contralateral hip). CONCLUSION: Within members of EPOS, there is controversy on several aspects of the management of SCFE particularly on aspects of the treatment of unstable SCFE. SIGNIFICANCE: Members of EPOS predominantly use traditional means of treatment for patients with SCFE. In contrast, the more modern treatment concepts, such as open reduction via surgical dislocation, are rarely used

Resilience to loss and chronic grief: A prospective study from preloss to 18-months postloss

The vast majority of bereavement research is conducted after a loss has occurred. Thus, knowledge of the divergent trajectories of grieving or their antecedent predictors is lacking. This study gathered prospective data on 205 individuals several years prior to the death of their spouse and at 6- and 18-months postloss. Five core bereavement patterns were identified: common grief, chronic grief, chronic depression, improvement during bereavement, and resilience. Common grief was relatively infrequent, and the resilient pattern most frequent. The authors tested key hypotheses in the literature pertaining to chronic grief and resilience by identifying the preloss predictors of each pattern. Chronic grief was associated with preloss dependency and resilience with preloss acceptance of death and belief in a just world. The death of a spouse is generally assumed to be one of the most stressful experiences that people encounter during the course of their lives (Holmes &amp; Rahe, 1967). However, there are marked individual differences in how much and for how long people grieve (Bonanno &amp; Kaltman, 1999, 2001; Wortman &amp; Silver, 1989, 2001). In addition to what is assumed to be the typical or common reaction, an initial increase in depression that gradually subsides over time, several other patterns of grief have been discussed in the literature. These include prolonged or chronic grieving, the noticeable absence of grief symptoms, and delayed grief responses. Social and personality psychologists have become increasingly interested in these different trajectories, and how they compare with those observed for other marital transitions and othe