John Strauss

Tenure Track Appointments

• Professor, Department of Economics, Michigan State University, 01/01/1992 – 01/01/2004
• Senior Economist, Economics and Statistics Department, RAND, 01/01/1989 – 01/01/1992
• Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Economic Growth Center, Yale University, 01/01/1987 – 01/01/1989
• Assistant Professor, Department of Economics and Economic Growth Center, Yale University, 01/01/1983 – 01/01/1986
• Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Virginia, 01/01/1981 – 01/01/1983

Summary Statement of Research Interests

Economist John Strauss is a recognized specialist in the fields of development economics, the economics of the household, the economics of human resource investments and labor market outcomes. He just finished co-editing Volume 4 of the Handbook of Development Economics. Strauss is the current Principal Investigator of the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS), Wave 4 having just come out publicly in spring 2009; and PI of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS); the Pilot data for which came out publicly in spring 2009. He is Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal, Economic Development and Cultural Change.

Research Keywords

Development Economics

Detailed Statement of Research Interests

I am now PI on two large-scale, longitudinal population surveys: the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS). The major purpose is to put two high quality databases into the public domain for scientific use around the world.

We have completed a survey of two provinces in China for CHARLS in the summer of 2008 and it was made publicly available in spring 2009. We are now fielding the national baseline wave 1 survey in 150 counties, across 28 provinces and will field the second wave in 2013. The National Institute on Aging is the major source of funding but we have additional monies from the China Natural Science Foundation and the World Bank. CHARLS wave 1 will become publicly available in the summer of 2012.

IFLS has 4 full waves now. I submitted proposals to NIA and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in June 2011, to fund the fifth wave of IFLS in 2013/14. IFLS is publicly available and has over 4,500 ever users around the globe.

Contracts and Grants Awarded

• Harmonized Congnitive and Dementia Assessment in China, (National Institute on Aging), John Strauss, Yaohui Zhao, $1,676,295, 09/2016 – 03/2020
• China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, (National Institute on Aging), John Strauss, Yaohui Zhao, $4,791,374, 05/2015 – 04/2019
• Dynamics of Family Well Being in Indonesia, (National Insitute of Child Health and Human Develo), John Strauss, $2,111,745, 06/2013 – 03/2019
• Fifth Indonesia Family Life Survey of Aging, (National Insitute on Aging), John Strauss, $2,016,709, 11/2011 – 03/2018
• China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, Supplement, (National Institue on Aging), John Strauss, Yaohui Zhao, Gonghuan Yang, $780,451, 09/2012 – 04/2015
• China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, (National Institute on Aging), John Strauss, Yaohui Zhao, $4,445,759, 05/15/2010 – 04/2015
• Studies of Health, Retirment, and Living Arrangements of the Elderly Poulation in China, (Fogerty International Center, NIH), John Strauss, Yaohui Zhao, $150,000, 2009 – 2012
• Biomarkers in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, (National Institute on Aging), John Strauss, Eileen Crimmins, $275,000, 2009 – 2011
• Dynamics of Family Well-Being in a Low_income Setting, (NICHD), John Strauss, $1,405,786, 09/28/2006 – 06/30/2010
• “Fourth Indonesian Family Life Survey of Aging”, (National Institute of Aging), John Strauss, $1,309,208, 09/16/2006 – 06/30/2010
• China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, Pilot, (National Institute of Aging), Dr. Yaohui Zhao, John Strauss, $274,954, 09/30/2007 – 08/31/2009
• China Aging Conference, (National Institute of Aging), John Strauss, $32,000, 02/2007 – 01/2008

Conference Presentations

• Aging in Asia: Evidence from China and Indonesia , Internaitonal Symposium on Social Aspects of a Changing Population Keynote Lecture, Nanyang Technological University, Invited, Singapore, 2010-2011
• Determinants of Intergenerational Transfers: Evidence from CHARLS , Conference on Policy Research and Data Needs to Meet the Challenges of Population Aging in AsiaTalk/Oral Presentation, National Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of S, Invited, Beijing China, 2010-2011
• Health Care and Insurance Among the Elderly in China: Evidence from the CHARLS Pilot , Conference on Policy Research and Data Needs to Meet the Challenges of Population Aging in AsiaTalk/Oral Presentation, US National Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy o, Invited, Beijing, China, 2010-2011
• Socio-economic Success and Health in Later Life: Evidence from the Indonesia Family Life Survey , Conference on Policy Research and Data Needs to Meet the Challenges of Population Aging in AsiaTalk/Oral Presentation, US National Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy o, Invited, Beijing, 2010-2011
• Cutting the Costs of Attrition , Pacific Development Economics Talk/Oral Presentation, USC, 2009-2010
• Cutting the Costs of Attrition , World Bank Conference on Data in DevelopmentTalk/Oral Presentation, World Bank, Invited, Washington DC, 2009-2010
• Estimation of Poverty Transition Matrices with Noisy Data , Pacific Development Economics Talk/Oral Presentation, USC, 2009-2010
• Estimation of Poverty Transition Matrices with Noisy Data , Econometric Society Winter MeetingsTalk/Oral Presentation, Denver, 2009-2010
• Estimation of Poverty Transition Matrices with Noisy Data , Econometric Society World CongressTalk/Oral Presentation, Shanghai China, 2009-2010
• Long term impacts of investment in early schooling , Pacific Development Economics Talk/Oral Presentation, USC, 2009-2010
• Socioeconomic success and health in later life , Population Association of AmericaTalk/Oral Presentation, Detroit, 2009-2010
• Socioeconomic success and health in later life , World Congress of Internaitonal Union for teh Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) Talk/Oral Presentation, Marakesh, Morocco, 2009-2010

• PI on China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).

  PI on the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS).

  Baseline national data of CHARLS were publicly released in February 2013. Re-survey data of CHARLS Pilot respondents (after 4 years) were released in August 2013. Wave 2 of CHARLS was fielded in summer and fall of 2013 to be public end of 2014. Special life history wave fielded summer/fall of 2014.

  A monograph of results from the baseline national survey was released at the end of May 2013 and received international press attention, including from the Wall Street Journal and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.

  A renewal proposal for CHARLS was prepared in summer and fall of 2013 and submitted to National Institute on Aging (NIA) in November 2013. It was revised and re-submitted June 2014.

  The fifth wave of the Indonesia Family Life Survey has begun end of August 2014. Field work will last until mid-year 2015.

Book

• Schultz, T., Strauss, J. A. (2008). Handbook of Development Economics, Volume 4. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Book Chapters

• Strauss, J. A., Witoelar, F., Sikoki, B. (2012). Socioeconomic Success and Health in Later Life: Evidence from the Indonesia Family Life Survey. Aging in Asia Washington D.C.: National Academy of Sciences Press.
• Lei, X., Giles, J., Hu, Y., Park, A., Strauss, J. A., Zhao, Y. (2012). Patterns and Correlates of Intergenerational Non-Time Transfers: Evidence from CHARLS. Aging in Asia Washington D.C.: National Academy of Sciences Press.
• Strauss, J. A., Hao, H., Li, L., Park, A., Yang, L., Zhao, Y. (2012). Health Care and Insurance Among the Elderly in China: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, Pilot. Aging in Asia Washington D.C.: National Academy of Sciences Press.
• Park, A., Shen, Y., Strauss, J. A., Zhao, Y. (2012). Relying on Whom? Poverty and Consumption Financing of China’s Elderly. (Vol. Aging in Asia) National Research Council.
• Strauss, J. A., Qian, E., Shen, M. (2010). Private Sector Industrialization in China. Palgrave/Macmillan.
• Strauss, J. A., Thomas, D. (2008). Health Over the Life Course in T.P. Schultz and J. Strauss (eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, Volume 4. (Vol. Handbook of Development Economics, Volume 4) Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Journal Article

• Lei, X., Strauss, J. A., Sun, X., Zhang, P., Zhao, Y. (2014). Depressive symptoms and SES among the mid-aged and elderly in China. Social Science and Medicine.
• Kim, Y., Strauss, J. A., Witoelar, F., Sikoki, B. (2014). Intergenerational Transmission of Health Among Older Adults: Empirical Evidence from Indonesia. Journal of Economics of Ageing/Elsevier.
• Zhao, Y., Smith, J. P., Strauss, J. A. (2014). Comment: Can China Age Healthily. Lancet. Vol. 384, pp. 721-722.
• Zhao, Y., Smith, J. P., Strauss, J. A. (2014). Healthy Aging in China. Journal of Economics of Ageing/Elsevier.
• Lei, X., Sun, X., Strauss, J. A., Zhao, Y., Yang, G., Hu, P., Hu, Y., Yin, X. (2014). Health Outcomes and Socio-economic Status Among the Mid-Aged and Elderly in China: Evidence from the CHARLS National Baseline Data. Journal of Economics of Ageing/Elsevier. Vol. 3, pp. 29-43.
• Hu, Y., Smith, J. P., Strauss, J. A., Yang, G., Zhao, Y. (2014). Cohort Profile: The China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. International Journal of Epidemiology. Vol. 43 (1), pp. 61-68.
• Lei, X., Strauss, J. A., Tien, M., Zhao, Y. (2013). Living Arrangements of the Elderly in China. RAND Labor and Population Working Paper WR866.
• Mani, S., Hoddinott, J., Strauss, J. A. (2013). Determinants of Schooling: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia. Journal of African Economies/ Oxford U Press.
• Hwang, W., Lei, X., Ridder, G., Strauss, J. A., Zhao, Y. (2013). Height, Height Shrinkage, Health at Older Ages and SES: Evidence from China. American Economic Journal: Applied Econoimcs. Vol. 5 (2), pp. 86-121.
• Mani, S., Hoddinott, J., Strauss, J. A. (2012). Long Term Impacts of Investments in Early Schooling: Empirical Evidence from Rural Ethiopia. Journal of Development Economics. Vol. 99 (1), pp. 292-299.
• Smith, J. P., Shen, Y., Strauss, J. A., Yang, Z., Zhao, Y. (2012). The Effects of Childhood Health on Adult Health and SES in China. Economic Development and Cultural Change/University of Chicago Press. Vol. 61 (1), pp. 127-155.
• Thomas, D., Witoelar, F., Frankenberg, E., Sikoki, B., Sumantri, C., Suriastini, W., Strauss, J. A. (2012). Cutting the Costs of Attrition: Evidence from the Indonesia Family Life Survey. Journal of Development Economics. Vol. 98 (1), pp. 108-123.
• Strauss, J. A., Lei, X., Park, A., Shen, Y., Smith, J. P., Yang, Z., Zhao, Y. (2010). Health Outcomes and Socioeconomic Status Among the Elderly in China. Journal of Population Ageing.

Monograph

• Zhao, Y., Park, A., Strauss, J. A., Giles, J., Mao, S., Crimmins, E., Hu, P., Hu, Y., Lei, X., Shen, Y., Shi, X., Wang, Y., Wu, X., Yang, G., Yin, X. (2013). Challenges of Population Aging in China: Evidence from the National Baseline Survey of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. National School of Development Peking University.

Manuscript

• Lee, N., Ridder, G., Strauss, J. A. (2013). Estimation of Poverty Transition Matrices WIth Noisy Data.

Technical Report

• Zhao, Y., Crimmins, E., Hu, P., Hu, Y., Ge, T., Kim, J., Strauss, J. A., Yang, G., Yin, X., Wang, Y. (2014). China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011-2012 National Baseline Blood Data User’s Guide. China Center for Economic Research, Peking University.
• Crimmins, E., Hu, J., Hu, P., Huang, W., Kim, J., Shi, Y., Strauss, J. A., Zhang, L., Zhao, Y. (2010). CHARLS Pilot: Blood-Based Biomarker Documentation. China Center for Economic Research, Peking University.
• Strauss, J. A., Witoelar, F., Sikoki, B., Wattie, A. (2009). User’s Guide for the Indonesia Family Life Survey, Wave 4: Volume 2. RAND Labor and Population Working Paper WR-675/2-NIA/NICHD.
• Strauss, J. A., Zhao, Y., Park, A., Sun, Y. (2009). China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study-Pilot User’s Guide. China Center for Economic Research, Peking U.
• Strauss, J. A., Witoelar, F., Sikoki, B., Wattie, A. (2009). The Fourth Wave of the Indonesia Family Life Survey: Overview and Field Report. RAND Labor and Population Working Paper WR-675/1-NIA/NICHD.

Working Paper

• Hu, P., Herningtyas, H., Strauss, J. A., Crimmins, E., Kim, J., Sikoki, B. (2013). IFLS C-Reactive Protein Data User Guide. RAND Labor and Population Division.

• National Bureau of Economic Research, Research Associate, Development Economics, 2012
• Chang Jiang Scholar at Peking University, 2005
• Senior Fellow, Bureau for Research in Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), 2005

Administrative Appointments

• Director of Graduate Studies, 2013-2014
• Director of Graduate Studies, Dept of Economics, 2012-2013
• Director of Graduate Studies
  Department of Economics, 2011-2012
• Director, Institute of Economic Policy Research, 08/16/2006 – 08/15/2008

Committees

• Chair, Junior faculty recruitment, 2016-2017
• Chair, Second Year Empirical paper, 2016-2017
• Member, Senior faculty recruitment, 2015-2016
• Member, Senior Search Committee for empirical micro, 2013-2014
• Member, Senior Recruiting Committee, 2011-2012
• Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, 2010-2011
• Member, Graduate Admission Committee, 2009-2010
• Chair, 2nd Year Empirical Paper Committee, 2008-2009

Committees

• Member, Senior recruiting committee for empirical micro position, 2013-2014

Conferences Organized

• Organizer, Pacific Development Economics , USC, 2009-2010

Editorships and Editorial Boards

• Editor-in-Chief, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 08/2003 – 08/2013

Review Panels

• National Institutes of Health, Center for Scientific Review Special Emphasis Panel, 2012-2013
• African Economic Research Consortium, Resource Person, 1997 – 2011
• National Institutes of Health, Regional and International Differences in Health and Longevity at Older Ages, R01 review panel, 2010-2011
• National Institutes of Health, Subjective Well-Being, R01 review panel, 2010-2011
• National Institutes of Health, R21-R03 Review Panel, 2009-2010