Draft:Arie Kapteyn

• Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest guideline, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. CESRcontributor (talk) 18:32, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

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Arie Kapteyn is a Dutch economist known for his work in subjective well-being, micro-econometrics, and survey methodology. He is the founding Director of the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at the University of Southern California (USC) and the creator of the Understanding America Study (UAS), a longitudinal Internet-based research panel in the United States.

Early life and education

Kapteyn was born on a farm in a small village in the Netherlands and trained in economics and econometrics at several Dutch universities. He earned:

• B.A. in Agricultural Economics, Wageningen University (1969)
• B.A. in Econometrics, Erasmus University Rotterdam (1970)
• M.A. cum laude in Agricultural Economics, Wageningen University (1972)
• M.A. in Econometrics, Erasmus University (1973)
• Ph.D. cum laude in Economics, Leiden University (1977), under Bernard van Praag.

His doctoral dissertation, A Theory of Preference Formation (1977), laid a foundation for his research in subjective well-being and preference formation.

Academic career

Kapteyn began his career at Leiden University in 1972 and later joined USC as Assistant Professor (1979–80) and Associate Professor (1981–82). He subsequently returned to the Netherlands, where he became Professor of Econometrics at Tilburg University (1982–2000). He was a senior economist at the RAND corporation (2001–2012), and currently is a professor and director of CESR at USC (2012-).

Academic entrepreneurship

Kapteyn has shown a strong interest in strategies to improve the quality of research and of research groups. An early somewhat subversive activity in the Netherlands was the publication, starting in 1980 (with Tom Wansbeek) of a national ranking of economics researchers, based on publications in international journals. At a time when in the Netherlands the prestige of economists was often measured by appearance in news media and publications in Dutch, the ranking upset the status quo and contributed to a dramatic change in culture regarding the importance of international publications.

At Tilburg University he was chair of the Econometrics Department and dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business (1989–1992). He led several European research networks. He founded the Center for Economic Research, (CentER) which served as a magnet for the attraction of research talent. In the early 2000s, Tilburg economics was ranked among the top in Europe.

His interest in new technologies for the collection of social science data resulted in the foundation of a new survey research institute: CentERdata (https://en.centerdata.nl/). See below under probability-based Internet data collection. At RAND he led the Labor and Population unit, which almost tripled its revenue during the 9 years of his leadership. He also founded the American Life Panel (see below).

In 2012 he was recruited by USC with a charge to build a new research institute in the social and economic sciences. The Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) was founded in 2013 and currently has about 100 staff, including some 45 PhDs. He founded a new internet panel: the Understanding America Study (UAS).

Probability-based Internet data collection

Kapteyn is a pioneer in data collection using probability-based Internet panels. CentERdata (nowadays, Centerdata) designed the first probability-based Internet panel in the world, the CentERpanel, which has been in operation until 2025 . The American Life Panel at RAND, was modeled after the Centerpanel, and so is the Understanding America Study (UAS) at USC. In addition to founding those three probability-based Internet panels, Kapteyn was one of the three principal investigators (with Marcel Das and Arthur van Soest) who won the award that created the LISS panel, which is conducted by Centerdata, with a structure similar to the UAS.

The UAS is a nationally representative Internet panel of U.S. residents. Founded in 2014, it has grown to over 14,500respondents. It provides longitudinal data on health, behavior, cognition, and economic decision-making, and is used by researchers and policymakers worldwide. The UAS does not only collect survey data, it also deploys wearables and collects biomarkers, while individual data can be linked to geocoded external data on physical, social, and policy environments. Its general aim is to provide as complete a picture as possible of lives lived in America.

Research

Subjective well-being

Kapteyn's early work extended cardinal approaches to the measurement of income satisfaction, pioneered by Van Praag in collaboration particularly with Van Praag and others . In his PhD thesis he formulated a theory of preference formation generalizing the idea that individuals evaluate their material wellbeing by comparison to others and to oneself in the past. This makes the evaluation of one's income identical to the position of that income in a "perceived income distribution". Several papers have tested and confirmed the implications of this model . Somewhat different, but related is the measurement of subjective poverty. In a joint paper with Goedhart, Halberstadt, and Van Praag, he proposed a survey-based approach to distinguish households who can make ends meet, and those who cannot .

Econometrics

A major part of his work in econometrics has been joint with Wansbeek and covers analysis of panel data , missing observations , and latent variables . Modeling Household and Labor Market Behavior Kapteyn has contributed both to the static modeling of household behavior and labor supply within a utility maximizing framework, but also to behavioral models of intertemporal decision making. The utility maximizing structural models incorporate interdependence of preferences and game theoretical interactions . This work forms a natural link to his micro-econometric work, as the assumption of utility maximization has strong implications for the empirical modeling of behavior.

Experiments

Kapetyn's experiments include laboratory models of stock market behavior, field experiments to gauge the effect of non-contributory pensions in Yucatan, Mexico and various papers on the valuation of annuities.

Survey methodology and Internet-based data collection

Kapteyn has contributed to two main strands on this literature. The first one concerns the relationship between self-reports of physical activity and how these relate to measurements from wearables. With coauthors he has illustrated the strong biases inherent in self-reports but also how feedback from wearables may affect physical activity. The other strand concerns the representativeness of information obtained from Internet panels and how that is related to the use of a proper probability-based framework. With coauthors he shows that reweighting of convenience internet panels may help, but ultimately biases remain that cannot be corrected. Conversely, information obtained from the UAS appears to match similar information from traditional high-quality population surveys quite well.

International comparisons

It has been increasingly recognized that one can use variations in policy across countries as a "laboratory" or a "natural experiment" to determine what may work and what may not. Kapteyn's interest was piqued by his membership of the National Academies panel on Preparing for an Aging World: The Case for Cross-National Research. He has made several contributions to this literature. Although it is true that one can learn from differences across countries , the use of survey data from different countries also raises the question whether similar answers actually mean the same in different countries. In joint work with Van Soest and Smith, he shows how different social norms about work disability may greatly bias comparisons across countries. Not surprisingly, norms also differ in other domains

Honors and recognition

• Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion (2007)
• Arie Kapteyn Chair, Tilburg University (2001)
• Fellow, Econometric Society (1994)
• Corresponding Member, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002)
• President, European Society for Population Economics (1993)
• Koopmans Medal, Tilburg University (2008)
• Robert C. Witt Award (2016, with xxxxx)
• N.G. Pierson Medal (2017)
• USC Associates Award for Creativity in Research (2019)

Editorial and professional service

• Co-Editor, Journal of Applied Econometrics (1991–2001)
• Associate Editor, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (1982–2001)
• Chair, Scientific Monitoring Board, SHARE (2009–present)
• Research Associate, NBER
• Fellow, IZA and Netspar

References

• van Diek, Clements (4 April 2024). "The CentER Revolution: How Tilburg Rose from its Ashes". Tilburg University Magazine.
• Lubrano, M., Kirman, A., Bauwens, L., and Protopopescu, C. (2003), "Ranking Economics Departments in Europe: A Statistical Approach", Journal of the European Economic Association, Vol. 1, pp. 1367-1401.
• Kalaitzidakis, P., Stengos, T., Mamuneas, T. (2003), "Rankings of Academic Journals and Institutions in Economics", Journal of the European Economic Association, Vol. 1, pp. 1346–1366.
• Kapteyn, A., and De Zeeuw, A.J., "Changing Incentives for Economic Research in The Netherlands," European Economic Review, papers and proceedings, Vol. 35, 1991, 603-611.
• Hays, R.D., Liu, H., and Kapteyn, A., "Use of Internet Panels to Conduct Surveys", Behavior Research Methods, Vol. 47, 2015, 685-690. The technical infrastructure of the CentERpanel was the sole accomplishment of Bas Weerman, who also built the infrastructure of the American Life Panel at RAND and the UAS at USC.
• Kapteyn, A., Angrisani, M., Darling, J., Gutsche T. "The Understanding America Study (UAS)", BMJ Open 2024;14:e088183. doi:10.1136/
• Ritika R. Chaturvedi PhD1,2,‡, Marco Angrisani PhD2, Wendy M. Troxel PhD3, Monika Jain MHA4, Tania Gutsche BA2, Eva Ortega BA2, Adrien Boch MS4, Citina Liang MA,5 Shiyang Sima MS,6 Aziz Mezlini PhD4, Eric J. Daza DrPH4, Miad Boodaghidizaji PhD,7 Sze-chuan Suen PhD,5 Alok R. Chaturvedi PhD,6 Hossein Ghasemkhani PhD,6 Arezoo M. Ardekani PhD,7 Arie Kapteyn PhD2
• "American Life in Realtime: benchmark, publicly-available person-generated health data for equity in precision health". PNAS Nexus, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2025
• Van Praag, B.M.S. (1968), Individual welfare functions and consumer behavior: A theory of rational irrationality, North Holland Publishing Company.
• Van Praag, B.M.S. (1971), "The welfare function of income in Belgium: An empirical investigation", European Economic Review, vol. 2, pp. 337-369
• Kapteyn, A., and Van Praag, B.M.S., "A New Approach to the Construction of Family Equivalence Scales," European Economic Review, Vol. 7, 1976, 313-335.
• Van Praag, B.M.S., and Kapteyn, A., "Further Evidence on the Individual Welfare Function of Income: An Empirical Investigation in The Netherlands," European Economic Review, Vol. 4, 1973, 32-62.
• Van Herwaarden, F., Kapteyn, A., and Van Praag, B.M.S., "Twelve Thousand Individual Welfare Functions of Income: A Comparison of Six Samples in Belgium and The Netherlands," European Economic Review, Vol. 9, 1977, 283-300.
• Wansbeek, T.J., Buyze, J., and Kapteyn, A., "The Dynamics of Preference Formation," Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 1, 1980, 123-157.
• Van De Stadt, H., Kapteyn, A., and Van De Geer, S.A., "The Relativity of Utility: Evidence From Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 67, 1985, 179-187.
• Kapteyn, A., "Utility and Economics," De Economist, Vol. 133, 1985, 1-20.
• Goedhart, T., Halberstadt, V., Kapteyn, A., and Van Praag, B.M.S., "The Poverty Line: Concept and Measurement," Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 12, 1977, 503-520. See also:
• Goedhart, T., Van Praag, B.M.S., and Kapteyn, A., "The Poverty Line: A Pilot Survey in Europe," The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 62, 1980, 461-465.
• Colasanto, D., Van Der Gaag, J., and Kapteyn, A., "Two Subjective Definitions of Poverty: Results From the Wisconsin Basic Needs Study," Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 19, 1984, 127-138.
• Kapteyn, A., Kooreman, P., and Willemse, R.J., "Some Methodological Issues in the Implementation of Subjective Poverty Definitions," Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 23, 1988, 222-242
• Wansbeek, T.J., and Kapteyn, A., "A Class of Decompositions of the Variance Covariance Matrix of a Generalized Error Components Model," Econometrica, Vol. 50, 1982, 713-724.
• Wansbeek, T.J., and Kapteyn, A., "Estimation of the Error-Components Model with Incomplete Panels," Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 41, 1989, 341-361.
• Wansbeek, T.J., and Kapteyn, A., "Estimation in a Linear Model With Serially Correlated Errors When Observations Are Missing," International Economic Review, Vol. 26, 1985, 469-490.
• Bekker, P.A., Wansbeek, T.J., and Kapteyn, A., "Consistent Sets of Estimates for Regressions with Correlated or Uncorrelated Measurement Errors in Arbitrary Subsets of All Variables," Econometrica, Vol. 55, 1987, 1223-1230.
• Aigner, D.J., Hsiao, C., Wansbeek, T.J., and Kapteyn, A., "Latent Variable Models in Econometrics," in: Z. Grilliches and M.D. Intriligator (eds.), Handbook of Econometrics, Vol. II, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1984, 1321-1393.
• Kooreman, P. and Kapteyn, A., "A disaggregrated analysis of the allocation of time within the household," Journal of Political Economy Vol. 95, 1987, 223-249.
• Alessie, R.J.M., and Kapteyn, A., "Habit Formation, Interdependent Preferences and Demographic Efforts in the Almost Ideal Demand System," The Economic Journal, Vol. 101, 1991, 404-419.
• Kapteyn, A., Van De Geer, S., Van De Stadt, H., and Wansbeek, T., "Interdependent Preferences: An Econometric Analysis," Journal of Applied Econometrics, Vol. 10, 1997, 665-686.
• Woittiez, I., and Kapteyn, A., "Social Interactions and Habit Formation in a Model of Female Labour Supply," Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 70, 1998, 185-205.
• Kuhn, P., Kooreman, P., Soetevent, A., and Kapteyn, A., "The Effects of Lottery Prizes on Winners and Their Neighbors: Evidence from the Dutch Postcode Lottery," American Economic Review, Vol. 101, 2011, 2226-2247
• Kapteyn, A., and Kooreman, P., "Household Labor Supply: What Kind of Data Can Tell Us How Many Decision Makers There Are?" European Economic Review, papers and proceedings, Vol. 36, 1992, 365-371.
• Kooreman, P., and Kapteyn, A., "On the Empirical Implementation of Some Game Theoretic Models of Household Labor Supply," Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 25, 1990, 584-598.
• Kapteyn, A., and Kooreman, P., "Estimation of Rationed and Unrationed Household Labor Supply Functions Using Flexible Functional Forms," The Economic Journal, Vol. 96, 1986, 398-412
• Kapteyn, A., Kooreman, P., and Van Soest, A.H.O., "Quality Rationing and Concavity in a Flexible Household Labor Supply Model," The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 72, 1990, 55-62.
• Soest, A.H.O. Van, Woittiez, I.B., and Kapteyn, A, "Labor Supply, Income Taxes and Hours Restrictions in The Netherlands," Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 25, 1990, 571-558
• Bloemen, H.G., and Kapteyn, A., "The Estimation of Utility Consistent Labor Supply Models by Means of Simulated Scores," Journal of Applied Econometrics, Vol. 23 (4), 2008, 395-422.
• Gneezy, U., Kapteyn, A., and Potters, J.N., "Evaluation Periods and Asset Prices in a Market Experiment," Journal of Finance, Vol. 58, 2003, 821-837.
• Aguila, E., Kapteyn, A., and Smith, J.P., "The Effects of Income Supplementation on Health of the Poor Elderly-The Case of Mexico", PNAS, Vol. 112, 2015, 70-75.
• Brown, J.R., Kapteyn A., Luttmer E.F.P., Mitchell O.S., and Samek A. "Behavioral Impediments to Valuing Annuities: Complexity and Choice Bracketing", The Review of Economics and Statistics 103, 2021, 533-546
• Brown, J.R., Kapteyn A., Luttmer E.F.P., Mitchell O.S., and Samek A. "Behavioral Impediments to Valuing Annuities: Complexity and Choice Bracketing", The Review of Economics and Statistics 103, 2021, 533-546
• Brown, J.R., Kapteyn, A., Luttmer, E., and Mitchell, O., "Cognitive Constraints on Valuing Annuities", Journal of the European Economic Association 15, 2017, 429-462.
• Kapteyn, A., Banks, J., Hamer, M., Smith, J.P., Steptoe, A., Van Soest, A.H.O., Koster, A., Saw H.W., "What They Say and What They Do: Comparing Physical Activity Across U.S., England, and the Netherlands", Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 72, 2018, 471–476.
• Saw, H-T., Kapteyn, A., Darling, J.E., "Does Feedback from Physical Activity Measurement Devices Influence Physical Activity? Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial", Survey Research Methods 2024, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 263-272
• Schonlau, M., Van Soest, A., Kapteyn, A., and Couper, M., "Selection Bias in Web Surveys and the Use of Propensity Scores," Sociological Methods & Research,Vol. 37, 2009, 291-318.
• Angrisani, M., Finley, B., Kapteyn A., "Can Internet Match High-Quality Traditional Surveys? Comparing the Health and Retirement Study and its Online Version", The Econometrics of Complex Survey Data,(Advances in Econometrics, Vol. 39), Emerald Publishing Limited, 2019, pp. 3-33.
• Kapteyn, A., "What Can We Learn From (and About) Global Aging?" Demography, Vol. 47, 2010, S191-S209
• Hurd, M., and Kapteyn, A., "Health, Wealth, and the Role of Institutions," Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 28, 2003, 386-415.
• Kapteyn, A., Smith, J.P., and Van Soest, A., "Vignettes and Self Reports of Work Disability in the United States and the Netherlands," American Economic Review, Vol. 97 (1), 2007, 461-473.
• Van Soest, A., Delaney, L., Harmon, C., Kapteyn, A., and Smith, J.P., "Validating the Use of Vignettes for Subjective Threshold Scales," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society A, Vol.174, 2011, 575-595

External links

• Center for Economic and Social Research (USC CESR)
• Understanding America Study
• Google Scholar Profile
• NBER Profile
• IZA Profile