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Inquiries in the Economics of Aging

For over a decade, the National Bureau of Economic Research has sponsored the Economics of Aging Program, under the direction of David A. Wise. The program addresses issues that affect the well-being of individuals as they age and a society that is composed increasingly of older people.

Within the next twenty years, an unprecedented proportion of Americans will be over sixty-five. New research in the economics of aging is an essential element of understanding what the future holds for this aging population. Inquiries in the Economics of Aging presents both empirical papers that consider questions that are fundamental to public policy and more theoretical contributions that lay new groundwork for future research in the economics of aging.

Inquiries in the Economics of Aging provides a timely overview of some of the most important questions facing researchers on aging and outlines new techniques and models that may help to answer these questions. This important volume will be of great interest to specialists and policy makers as it paves the way for future analysis.


346 pages | 52 line drawings, 98 tables | 6 x 9 | © 1998

National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report

Economics and Business: Economics--Development, Growth, Planning, Health Economics

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction by David A. Wise
I. Health Insurance and the Cost of Health Care
1. Insurance or Self-Insurance? Variation, Persistence, and Individual Health Accounts
Matthew J. Eichner, Mark B. McClellan, and David A. Wise
Comment: Jonathan Gruber
2. What Is Technological Change?
David M. Cutler and Mark B. McClellan
Comment: Jonathan Gruber
II. Retirement and Care of the Elderly
3. Lump-Sum Distributions from Retirement Saving Plans: Receipt and Utilization
James M. Poterba, Steven F. Venti, and David A. Wise
Comment: James B. Shoven
4. Does Medicare Eligibility Affect Retirement?
Brigitte C. Madrian and Nancy Dean Beaulieu
Comment: James H. Stock
5. Caring for the Elderly: The Role of Adult Children
Kathleen McGarry
Comment: James P. Smith
III. Measurement, Methodological, and Data Issues
6. Measuring Poverty among the Elderly
Angus Deaton and Christina Paxson
Comment: B. Douglas Bernheim
7. The Covariance Structure of Mortality Rates in Hospitals
Douglas Staiger 
Comment: David Meltzer
8. Household Wealth and the Elderly under Alternative Imputation Procedures
Hilary Hoynes, Michael Hurd, and Harish Chand
Comment: James P. Smith
9. Subjective Survival Curves and Life Cycle Behavior
Michael Hurd, Daniel McFadden, and Li Gan
Comment: Axel Börsch-Supan
10. Cause-Specific Mortality among Medicare Enrollees
Jayanta Bhattacharya, Alan M. Garber, and Thomas E. MaCurdy
Comment: Angus Deaton
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index

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