pension: Pension 401(k) data set
In hdm: High-Dimensional Metrics

Description Format Details References Examples

Data set on financial wealth and 401(k) plan participation

Dataframe with the following variables (amongst others):

p401: participation in 401(k)
e401: eligibility for 401(k)
a401: 401(k) assets
tw: total wealth (in US $)
tfa: financial assets (in US $)
net_tfa: net financial assets (in US $)
nifa: non-401k financial assets (in US $)
net_nifa: net non-401k financial assets
net_n401: net non-401(k) assets (in US $)
ira: individual retirement account (IRA)
inc: income (in US $)
age: age
fsize: family size
marr: married
pira: participation in IRA
db: defined benefit pension
hown: home owner
educ: education (in years)
male: male
twoearn: two earners

nohs, hs, smcol, col: dummies for education: no high-school, high-school, some college, college
hmort: home mortage (in US $)
hequity: home equity (in US $)
hval: home value (in US $)

The sample is drawn from the 1991 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and consists of 9,915 observations. The observational units are household reference persons aged 25-64 and spouse if present. Households are included in the sample if at least one person is employed and no one is self-employed. The data set was analysed in Chernozhukov and Hansen (2004) and Belloni et al. (2014) where further details can be found. They examine the effects of 401(k) plans on wealth using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation using 401(k) eligibility as an instrument for 401(k) participation.

V. Chernohukov, C. Hansen (2004). The impact of 401(k) participation on the wealth distribution: An instrumental quantile regression analysis. The Review of Economic and Statistics 86 (3), 735–751.

A. Belloni, V. Chernozhukov, I. Fernandez-Val, and C. Hansen (2014). Program evaluation with high-dimensional data. Working Paper.