Michael D. Hurd, James P. Smith, and Julie M. Zissimopoulos. "The Effects of Subjective Survival on Retirement and Social Security Claiming", Journal of Applied Econometrics, Vol. 19, No. 6, 2004, pp. 761-775. The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a biennial panel with emphasis on retirement behavior and how it is affected by health status, economic status, and work incentives. At baseline in 1992 the HRS had 12,652 respondents and was nationally representative of individuals born in 1931-1941 and their spouses except for over-samples of blacks, Hispanics, and Floridians. This paper uses data from survey waves one through four fielded in 1992, 1994, 1996, and 1998. We also use restricted data on Social Security quarters of covered earnings matched with HRS respondent records from the main survey to determine whether a HRS respondent is eligible to receive Social Security benefits. Non-restricted data are from the RAND HRS data file. These data and information for obtaining HRS restricted data can be obtained from the web site located at: http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu. For studying retirement, we use data on the age-eligible (birth cohorts of 1931-1941) with up to three observations per person. Our analyses of retirement are retirement hazards. Conditional on labor force participation at survey wave 1, 2, or 3 (time t), what is the probability of not being in the labor force in the following wave (time t+1)? To be included in the sample, individuals must have reported their labor force status in sequential waves. We define individuals in the labor force as those respondents who report working full-time or part-time or are unemployed. Respondents who are not in the labor force in the following wave are those who are retired, partially retired, disabled or not in the labor force. Individuals must also have reported the probability of living to age 85 and individuals 66 years old and older were not queried in the survey. Our final sample is based on 14,387 observations. We divide our analysis of claiming into two parts: individuals who retire before 62, and individuals who retire at or after age 62. We select individuals who are at least 62 years old in wave 2, 3, or 4. We exclude individuals who claim Disability Insurance, are widows, or are ineligible for OASI benefits based on quarters of coverage, and any remaining individuals who received benefits before age 62. The first sample is based on those who are not in the labor force at 62 years of age. We use one observation per individual. After the selections described above, our sample is 961 individuals. The second sample is based on individuals who are working at age 62. We use one observation per individual: the first survey wave after turning 62 in which the worker leaves the labor force, or the last wave we observe them in if they are still working in wave 4. Our second sample is based 1046 individuals who retire at or after age 62. Julie_Zissimopoulos@rand.org