Research Professor Emeritus, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research and Professor Emeritus, Economics, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Biography
Dr. Willis has made important contributions to research in labor economics and the economics of fertility and the family. He is currently conducting research on out-of-wedlock childbearing and intergenerational transfers in Asia and the United States. Dr. Willis is past Director of the Health and Retirement Study.
Projects
Funded Research
Publications
- Sonnega, Amanda J.; Helppie-McFall, Brooke; Hudomiet, Peter; Willis, Robert J.; Fisher, Gwenith G. (2017). A Comparison of Subjective and Objective Job Demands and Fit With Personal Resources as Predictors of Retirement Timing in a National U.S. Sample. Work, Aging and Retirement, 4(1), 37-51.
- Helppie-McFall, Brooke; Murray-Close, Marta; Willis, Robert J. and Chen, Uniko (2015). Is it all Worth it? the Experiences of New PhDs on the Job Market, 2007–10. The Journal of Economic Education, 46(1), 83-104.
- Kezdi, Gabor and Willis, Robert J. (2014). Expectations, Aging and Cognitive Decline. 305-337. In Wise,David A. (Ed.), Discoveries in the Economics of Aging. University of Chicago Press:Chicago.
- Hsu, Joanne W. and Willis, Robert J. (2013). Dementia Risk and Financial Decision Making by Older Households: The Impact of Information. Journal of Human Capital, 7(4), 340-377.
- Hudomiet, Peter and Willis, Robert J. (2013). Estimating Second Order Probability Beliefs from Subjective Survival Data. Decision Analysis, 10(2), 152-170.
- Willis, Robert J. and Fisher, Gwenith G. (2012). Research Methods in Retirement Research. In Wang,Mo (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Retirement. Oxford University Press:New York.
- Parker, Andrew M.; de Bruin, Wändi B.; Yoong, Joanne and Willis, Robert J. (2012). Inappropriate Confidence and Retirement Planning: Four Studies with a National Sample. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 25(4), 382-389.
- Hudomiet, Peter; Kezdi, Gabor and Willis, Robert J. (2011). Stock Market Crash and Expectations of American Households. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 26(3), 393-415.
- Rohwedder, Susann and Willis, Robert J. (2010). Mental Retirement. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(1), 119-38.
- Smith, James P.; McArdle, John J. and Willis, Robert J. (2010). Financial Decision Making and Cognition in a Family Context. The Economic Journal, 120(548), F363-F380.
- Willis, Robert J. (2009). Lifecycle Asset Allocation Strategies and the Distribution of 401(k) Retirement Wealth: Comment. 50. In Wise,David A. (Ed.), Developments in the Economics of Aging. University of Chicago Press:Chicago.
- Willis, Robert J. (2008). Ageing in the U.S.: The Health and Retirement Study. 47. In Kemp,Peter; Smith,Lindsey and van den Bosch,Karel (Ed.), Social Protection in an Ageing World. Intersentia:Antwerp ; Portland.
- Willis, Robert J. (2008). Interpreting Norms of Obligation as Planner’s Preferences for Distributional Justice : A Formal Economic Model. 341. In Booth,Alan; Crouter,Ann G.; Bianchi,S. and Seltzer,J. A. (Ed.), Intergenerational Caregiving. Urban Institute Press:Washington, D.C.
- Plassman, B.; Langa, Kenneth M.; Fisher, Gwenith G.; Heeringa, Steven G.; Weir, David R.; Ofstedal, Mary Beth; Burke, J.; Hurd, M.; Potter, G.; Rodgers, Willard L.; Steffens, D.; McArdle, J.; Willis, Robert J. and Wallace, R. (2008). Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment without Dementia in the United States. Annals of Internal Medicine, 148(6), 427-434.