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 ground-work for future research in the economics of aging.

Two essays investigate health insurance and the increasing cost of health care. The first considers the feasibility of medical savings accounts as a means of controlling health care costs; the second examines the sources of health care expenditure growth, emphasizing the significance of changes in medical technology. Three papers concentrate on retirement and caring for the elderly. One concludes that retirement saving is indeed used for retirement, another asks whether the availability of Medicare insurance influences the timing of retirement, and the third studies the economic role that adult children play in caring for elderly parents. Of the five theoretical works in the book, three discuss methodological problems related to mortality and mortality rates, and two address difficulties and new opportunities for measuring wealth and poverty among the elderly.

Inquiries in the Economics of Aging provides a timely overview of some of the mostimportant 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.