In early 1988 the panel recommended the initiation of a new, long-term study to examine the ways in which older adults’ changing health interacts with social, economic, and psychological factors and retirement decisions.
Ultimately, relevant executive agencies and the United States Congress recognized the value of this major social science investment, and the HRS was established.
CHARLS is headed by a team at the Chinese Center for Economic Research (CCER) at Peking University under the direction of Professor Zhao Yaohui.
LASI is jointly headed by a team from Harvard University under the direction of Professor David Bloom and the International Institute of Population Studies (IIPS) in Mumbai India.
Both CHARLS and LASI were awarded peer review grants to conduct pilot studies by the National Institute of Aging in the United States.