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.
E-Book Content
Perspectives on the Economics of Aging
A National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report
National Bureau of Economic Research Korea Development Institute Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research Tokyo Center for Economic Research Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Productivity Commission, Australia
Perspectives on the Economics of Aging
Edited by
David A. Wise
The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
D A. W is the John F. Stambaugh Professor of Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and director of the NBER Program on Aging. Among the many titles he has edited in this area are the recent Themes in the Economics of Aging and Advances in the Economics of Aging.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2004 by the National Bureau of Economic Research All rights reserved. Published 2004 Printed in the United States of America 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN: 0-226-90305-2 (cloth) Chapter 11 is reprinted from Journal of Econometrics, vol. 112, Adams et al., “Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise? Tests for Direct Causal Paths between Health and Socioeconomic Status,” pp. 3–56, 2003, with permission from Elsevier.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perspectives on the economics of aging / edited by David A. Wise. p. cm.—(A National Bureau of Economic Research Conference report) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-226-38680-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Aged—United States—Economic conditions. 2. Retirement— Economic aspects—United States. 3. Retirement income—United States. 4. 401(k) plans—United States. 5. Individual retirement accounts—United States. I. Wise, David A. II. Series HQ1064.U5P467 2004 332.024′0084′60973—dc22 2004041253
o The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
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