Perspectives of the Economics of Aging

by edited by David A. Wise

• ISBN13: 9780226903057
• ISBN10: 0226903052
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-10
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

This book investigates several important issues in the economics of aging, including the accumulation of wealth and the relationship between health and financial prosperity. Examining the changes in savings behavior and investment priorities in the United States over the past few decades, contributors to the volume point to a dramatic shift from employer-managed, defined benefit pensions to employee-controlled retirement savings plans. Further, the legislative reforms of the 1980s and the booming stock market of the 1990s did their share to influence individual wealth accumulation patterns of Americans. These studies also explore the relationship between health status and economic status. Considering issues like pension income and health, mortality, and medical care, contributors present evidence from the United States, Britain, South Africa, and Russia. The volume culminates with wide-ranging discussions on a number of key topics in the field including the innovations that have contributed to a decline in mortality rates; the various medical advances that have benefited populations over time; and the determinants of expenditures on health. The findings with regard to cross-sectional differences in health outcomes and health care utilization also pose troubling questions for policymakers seeking to democratize health care across regions and races.

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 editor of many titles including Themes in the Economics of Aging and Advances in the Economics of Aging.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(16)
David A. Wise
The Transition to Personal Accounts and Increasing Retirement Wealth: Macro- and Microevidence	17	(64)
James M. Poterba
Steven F. Venti
David A. Wise
Comment
Sylvester J. Schieber
For Better or for Worse: Default Effects and 401(k) Savings Behavior	81	(46)
James J. Choi
David Laibson
Brigitte C. Madrian
Andrew Metrick
Comment
James M. Poterba
Aging and Housing Equity: Another Look	127	(54)
Steven F. Venti
David A. Wise
Comment
Jonathan Skinner
Intergenerational Transfers and Savings Behavior	181	(24)
Jeffrey R. Brown
Scott J. Weisbenner
Comment
Alan J. Auerbach
Wealth Portfolios in the United Kingdom and the United States	205	(42)
James Banks
Richard Blundell
James P. Smith
Comment
John B. Shoven
Mortality, Income, and Income Inequality over Time in Britain and the United States	247	(40)
Angus Deaton
Christina Paxson
Comment
James Banks
Does Money Protect Health Status? Evidence from South African Pensions	287	(26)
Anne Case
Comment
Robert T. Jensen
Socioeconomic Status, Nutrition, and Health among the Elderly	313	(20)
Robert T. Jensen
Comment
David M. Cutler
Changes in the Age Distribution of Mortality over the Twentieth Century	333	(34)
David M. Cutler
Ellen Meara
Area Differences in Utilization of Medical Care and Mortality among U.S. Elderly	367	(48)
Victor R. Fuchs
Mark McClellan
Jonathan Skinner
Comment
Joseph P. Newhouse
Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise? Tests for Direct Causal Paths between Health and Socioeconomic Status	415	(112)
Peter Adams
Michael D. Hurd
Daniel McFadden
Angela Merrill
Tiago Ribeiro
Comment
James M. Poterba
Contributors	527	(4)
Author Index	531	(4)
Subject Index	535