Topics in the Economics of Aging

by David A. Wise

Overview

The original essays and commentary in this volume—the third in a series reporting the results of the NBER Economics of Aging Program—address issues that are of particular importance to the well-being of individuals as they age and to a society at large that is composed increasingly of older persons. The contributors examine social security reform, including an analysis of the Japanese system; present the startling finding that the vast majority of people choose the wrong accumulation strategies for their pension plans; explore the continuing consequences of the decline in support of parents by children in the postwar period; investigate the relation between nursing home stays and the source of payment for the care; and offer initial findings on the implications of differences between developed and developing countries for understanding aging issues and determining appropriate directions for research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226902982
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	06/17/1992
Series:	National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report
Edition description:	1
Pages:	326
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David A. Wise is the John F. Stambaugh Professor of Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Area Director for Health and Retirement Programs at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
David A. Wise
1. Three Models of Retirement: Computational Complexity versus Predictive Validity
Robin L. Lumsdaine, James H. Stock, and David A. Wise
Comment: Sylvester J. Schieber
2. Stocks, Bonds, and Pension Wealth
Thomas E. MaCurdy and John B. Shoven
Comment: Jonathan S. Skinner
3. Health, Children, and Elderly Living Arrangements: A Multiperiod-Multinomial Probit Model with Unobserved Heterogeneity and Autocorrelated Errors
Axel Börsch-Supan, Vassilis Hajivassiliou, Laurence J. Kotlikoff, and John N. Morris
Comment: Steven F. Venti
4. The Provision of Time to the Elderly by Their Children
Axel Börsch-Supan, Jagadeesh Gokhale, Laurence J. Kotlikoff, and John N. Morris
Comment: Konrad Stahl
5. Wealth Depletion and Life-Cycle Consumption by the Elderly
Michael D. Hurd
Comment: Lee A. Lillard
6. Patterns of Aging in Thailand and Côte d'Ivoire
Angus Deaton and Christina H. Paxson
Comment: Fumio Hayashi
7. Changing the Japanese Social Security System from Pay as You Go to Actuarially Fair
Tatsuo Hatta and Noriyoshi Oguchi
Comment: Edward P. Lazear
8. Payment Source and Episodes of Institutionalization
Alan M. Garber and Thomas E. MaCurdy
Comment: Paul J. Gertler
9. Incentive Regulation of Nursing Homes: Specification Tests of the Markov Model
Edward C. Norton
Comment: Sherwin Rosen
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index

Editorial Reviews

The third volume of findings from a research project begun in 1986 and reported to a conference in Carefree, Arizona, April 1990, which set out to identify the determinants of the economic well being and health of the elderly, and the consequences of an aging population on both society and the elderly themselves. The nine essays address such topics as models of retirement, wealth depletion, time spent with the elderly by their children, and patterns of aging in Thailand and Cote d `Ivoire. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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