Reducing panel attrition - A search for effective policy instruments

In this paper we develop a theory of the survey response decision process a nd apply it to the analysis of field office police measures in an attempt t o see which of these are effective in reducing panel attrition. We use data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to assess the effectiveness of 1) reducing the length of the interview and 2) assigning the same initial i nterview er wave after M ave. There is virtually no evidence in the data th at interview length affects subsequent wave response. Assigning the same in terviewer wave after wave, however, has a strong positive effect on respons e rates.