A common caveat often accompanying results relying on household surveys regards respondent error. There is research using administrative data to estimate the extent of error, the correlates of error, and potential corrections for the error. The authors investigate measurement error in occupation...

Previous research has repeatedly found a puzzling one-time drop in the mean and median of consumption at retirement, contrary to the predictions of the life-cycle hypothesis. However, very little is known as to whether these effects vary across the consumption distribution. This study expands...

Personal bankruptcy, unemployment insurance, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children provide income and wealth insurance. Because they have similar purposes, it should not be surprising that some households use more than one of these programs or that the programs are substitutes. This study...

This article examines the response of food consumption to filing for personal bankruptcy in the spirit of previous work on the benefits of other social-insurance programs. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we find that an increase in the financial benefit to filing for bankruptcy...

Recent studies have shown that food consumption declines at retirement. We use broader definitions of consumption from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and find that the so-called retirement consumption puzzle is solved by using comprehensive consumption data.