Risk preference parameters: risk tolerance and risk aversion
 

This page provides imputations for risk preference parameters for responses to the risk tolerance questions in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID).

Original paper on preference parameters:
Robert B. Barsky, F. Thomas Juster, Miles S. Kimball, and Matthew D. Shapiro, "Preference Parameters and Behavioral Heterogeneity: An Experimental Approach in the Health and Retirement Study" Quarterly Journal of Economics 112 (May 1997) 537-579. jstor link (access required)

Methodological paper: 
Miles Kimball, Claudia Sahm, and Matthew Shapiro,  "Imputing Risk Tolerance from Survey Responses" Journal of the American Statistical Association 103 (Sept 2008) 1028-1038. pdf

Using risk preference imputations for Health and Retirement Study (HRS):
User's guide and Spreadsheet   with risk preference imputations for HRS respondents and for each possible set of gamble response categories from Kimball, Sahm, and Shapiro JASA (2008).  Imputations updated July 2007. 
Stata files and SAS files (same data as in spreadsheet):
      Programs and data. zip
      Response Category Imputations: rcimpute.dta,  rcimpute.sas7bdat (See note if rcimpute files downloaded prior to November 23, 2011.)
      HRS Respondent Imputation: hrsimpute.dta, hrsimpute.sas7bdat

Health and Retirement Study risk preference questions:
Wording of hypothetical income gambles 1992-2002 HRS pdf.  See User's Guide for further documentation.  Current versions of the HRS risk tolerance questions (Section P, 2006 HRS.  Note: Job lottery is for respondents aged<65; Inheritance lottery is for respondents aged>65)  HRS questionnaire

For online data and documentation from HRS see HRS WWW page

Using risk preference imputations for the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID):
Risk Preferences in the PSID: Individual Imputations and Family Covariation." by Miles S. Kimball, Claudia R. Sahm, and Matthew D. Shapiro. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 99 (May 2009) 363-368. PDF Appendix
      Programs. zip

    Return to Matthew Shapiro Home Page | Department of Economics | University of Michigan