Themes in the Economics of Aging

by Wise, David A.

• ISBN13: 9780226902845
• ISBN10: 0226902846
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-11-14
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

In the past few years, the economic ramifications of aging have garnered close attention from a group of NBER researchers led by David A. Wise. In this volume, Wise and his collaborators continue to analyze a nexus of age-related issues. This volume begins by looking at the implications of private and public personal retirement plans, focusing in particular on the impact of 401(k) programs on retirement strategies in light of potential social security reform and factors such as annuitization and on asset accumulation. Next, the often-observed relationship between health and wealth is dissected from two different perspectives and correlated with striking increases in health-care spending over the past two decades, despite the improved health of older populations. The volume concludes with an investigation of the retirement effects of various social security provisions in both U.S. and German systems. This carefully developed collection expands the current investigative focus and broadens the dialogue on a rapidly growing area of social and economic concern.

Author Biography

David A. Wise is the director of the National Bureau of Economic Research's program on aging and the John F. Stambaugh Professor of Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is the editor or coeditor of more than a dozen books, all published by the University of Chicago Press.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(22)
I. Personal Retirement Plans
Preretirement Cashouts and Foregone Retirement Saving: Implications for 401(k) Asset Accumulation	23	(36)
James M. Poterba
Steven F. Venti
David A. Wise
Comment
John B. Shoven
The Personal Security Account 2000 Plan, Market Outcomes, and Risk	59	(32)
Sylvester J. Schieber
John B. Shoven
Comment
Steven F. Venti
Are the Elderly Really Over-Annuitized? New Evidence on Life Insurance and Bequests	91	(38)
Jeffrey R. Brown
Comment
Anne Case
II. Wealth and Health
Mortality, Education, Income, and Inequality among American Cohorts	129	(42)
Angus Deaton
Christina Paxson
Comment
James P. Smith
Predictors of Mortality among the Elderly	171	(30)
Michael D. Hurd
Daniel McFadden
Angela Merrill
Comment
Finis Welch
III. Health Care
Trends in Medicare Spending Near the End of Life	201	(16)
Jeffrey Geppert
Mark McClellan
Comment
David M. Cutler
The Concentration of Medical Spending: An Update	217	(24)
David M. Cutler
Ellen Meara
Comment
Joseph P. Newhouse
The Sources of Cost Difference in Health Insurance Plans: A Decomposition Analysis	241	(40)
Matthew Eichner
Mark McClellan
David A. Wise
Comment
Joseph P. Newhouse
IV. Social Security Provisions and Retirement
Incentive Effects of Social Security under an Uncertain Disability Option	281	(30)
Axel Borsch-Supan
Comment
Daniel McFadden
Social Security Incentives for Retirement	311	(46)
Courtney Coile
Jonathan Gruber
Comment
Andrew A. Samwick
V. Bequests and Dissaving
Anticipated and Actual Bequests	357	(36)
Michael D. Hurd
James P. Smith
Comment
David Laibson
Contributors	393	(2)
Author Index	395	(4)
Subject Index	399