Analyses In The Economics Of Aging

by Wise, David A.

• ISBN13: 9780226902869
• ISBN10: 0226902862
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-08-03
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Analyses in the Economics of Agingsummarizes a massive amount of new research on several popular and less-examined topics pertaining to the relationship between economics and aging. Among the many themes explored in this volume, considerable attention is given to new research on retirement savings, the cost and efficiency of medical resources, and the predictors of health events.The volume begins with a discussion of the risks and merits of 401(k) plans. Subsequent chapters present recent analysis of the growth of Medicare costs; the different aspects of disability; and the evolution of health, wealth, and living arrangements over the life course. Keeping with the global tradition of previous volumes,Analyses in the Economics of Agingalso includes comparative studies on savings behavior in Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States; an examination of household savings among different age groups in Germany; and a chapter devoted to population aging and the plight of widows in India. Carefully compiled and containing some of the most cutting-edge research and analysis available, this volume should be of interest to any specialist or policymaker concerned with ongoing changes in savings and retirement behaviors.

Author Biography

David A. Wise is the John F. Stambaugh Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is also the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, director of the NBER Program on Aging, and coeditor or editor of several volumes, including, most recently, Perspectives on the Economics of Aging.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(316)
David A. Wise
1 Utility Evaluation of Risk in Retirement Saving Accounts	13	(46)
James M. Poterba, Joshua Rauh, Steven F. Venti, and David A. Wise
Comment: Robert J. Willis
2. Passive Decisions and Potent Defaults	59	(20)
James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Andrew Metrick
Comment: Antonio Rangel
3. Characterizing the Experiences of High-Cost Users in Medicare	79	(50)
Thomas MaCurdy and Jeff Geppert
Comment: Jonathan Skinner
4. The Efficiency of Medicare	129	(32)
Jonathan Skinner, Elliott S. Fisher, and John E. Wennberg
Comment: Alan M. Garber
5. Intensive Medical Technology and the Reduction in Disability	161	(24)
David M. Cutler
Comment: Alan M. Garber
6. Broken Down by Work and Sex: How Our Health Declines	185	(28)
Anne Case and Angus Deaton
Comment: Daniel McFadden
7. Consequences and Predictors of New Health Events	213	(28)
James P. Smith
Comment. David M. Cutler
8. Healthy, Wealthy, and Knowing Where to Live: Trajectories of Health, Wealth, and Living Arrangements among the Oldest Old	241	(40)
Florian Heiss, Michael D. Hurd, and Axel Börsch-Supan
Comment: Steven F. Venti
9. Institutions and Saving for Retirement: Comparing the United States, Italy, and the Netherlands	281	(36)
Arie Kapteyn and Constantijn Panis
Comment: Andrew A. Samwick
10. Household Saving in Germany: Results of the First SAVE Study	317	(40)
Axel Börsch-Supan and Lothar Essig
Comment: Andrew A. Samwick
11. Caste, Culture, and the Status and Well-Being of Widows in India	357	(20)
Robert Jensen
Comment: Esther Duflo
12. Individual Subjective Survival Curves	377	(36)
Li Gan, Michael D. Hurd, and Daniel McFadden
Comment: Robert J. Willis
Contributors	413	(4)
Author Index	417	(4)
Subject Index	421