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The Golden Rule Of Longevity

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  • Gestsson, Marias H.
  • Zoega, Gylfi

Abstract

How much should society invest in medical care that extends the lives of the older generations? We derive a golden rule for the level of health care expenditures and find that the optimal level of life-extending health care expenditures should increase with rising productivity, increase with the retirement age, and also increase with the population growth rate if a higher growth rate lowers the ratio of retirees to working-age people sufficiently, while the effects of an improvement in medical technology are ambiguous. Moreover, we find that a market economy may be inefficient in terms of the provision of life-extending health care because an individual ignores the effect of his own longevity on the income of others.

Suggested Citation

  • Gestsson, Marias H. & Zoega, Gylfi, 2019. "The Golden Rule Of Longevity," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 384-419, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:macdyn:v:23:y:2019:i:01:p:384-419_00
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    JEL classification:

    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health

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