IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joecag/v24y2023ics2212828x22000718.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The economics of longevity – An introduction

Author

Listed:
  • Scott, Andrew J.

Abstract

Global life expectancy now stands at 71 years compared with 30 years in 1870. This fact increases the need to understand how we age and how that impacts our economic decision making. It also raises the issue of how we should change our life cycle behaviours, policies and institutions to adapt to these longer lives. The combination of these two factors leads to a very different focus from the traditional interest of an ageing society and its focus on changes in the age distribution of society. It emphasises the need to understand a longevity society and changes in how we age. Given the importance of intertemporal decision making and the life cycle model in economics the implications of longevity for economic research offers rich pickings across a range of areas covering health, human capital, employment, financial decisions and macroeconomics. Understanding the changes in how we age in response to longer lives and identifying the channels to ensure that longer lives are welfare enhancing should be a fruitful and important area for research.

Suggested Citation

  • Scott, Andrew J., 2023. "The economics of longevity – An introduction," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joecag:v:24:y:2023:i:c:s2212828x22000718
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2022.100439
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212828X22000718
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeoa.2022.100439?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matteo Cervellati & Uwe Sunde, 2011. "Life expectancy and economic growth: the role of the demographic transition," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 99-133, June.
    2. Acemoglu, Daron & Mühlbach, Nicolaj Søndergaard & Scott, Andrew J., 2022. "The rise of age-friendly jobs," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    3. John Ameriks & Joseph Briggs & Andrew Caplin & Minjoon Lee & Matthew D. Shapiro & Christopher Tonetti, 2020. "Older Americans Would Work Longer If Jobs Were Flexible," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 174-209, January.
    4. de la Croix, David & Licandro, Omar, 1999. "Life expectancy and endogenous growth," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 255-263, November.
    5. Gary S. Becker & Casey B. Mulligan, 1997. "The Endogenous Determination of Time Preference," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(3), pages 729-758.
    6. Morgan E. Levine & Eileen M. Crimmins, 2018. "Is 60 the New 50? Examining Changes in Biological Age Over the Past Two Decades," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(2), pages 387-402, April.
    7. Roozbei Hosseini & Karen Kopecky & Kai Zhao, 2022. "The Evolution of Health over the Life Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 237-263, July.
    8. Kotschy, Rainer, 2021. "Health dynamics shape life-cycle incomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    9. Lee, R., 2016. "Macroeconomics, Aging, and Growth," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 59-118, Elsevier.
    10. Adrien Auclert & Hannes Malmberg & Frederic Martenet & Matthew Rognlie, 2021. "Demographics, Wealth, and Global Imbalances in the Twenty-First Century," NBER Working Papers 29161, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Nicole Maestas & Kathleen J. Mullen & David Powell & Till von Wachter & Jeffrey B. Wenger, 2023. "The Value of Working Conditions in the United States and the Implications for the Structure of Wages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(7), pages 2007-2047, July.
    12. Etienne Gagnon & Benjamin K. Johannsen & David López-Salido, 2021. "Understanding the New Normal: The Role of Demographics," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 69(2), pages 357-390, June.
    13. Victor R. Fuchs, 2018. "The New Demographic Transition: Most Gains in Life Expectancy Now Realized Late in Life," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Health Economics and Policy Selected Writings by Victor Fuchs, chapter 32, pages 379-401, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Sunde, Uwe, 2023. "Age, longevity, and preferences," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    15. Moshe Hazan, 2009. "Longevity and Lifetime Labor Supply: Evidence and Implications," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(6), pages 1829-1863, November.
    16. Carstensen, Laura L. & Reynolds, Megan E., 2023. "Age differences in preferences through the lens of socioemotional selectivity theory," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    17. Judith Campisi & Pankaj Kapahi & Gordon J. Lithgow & Simon Melov & John C. Newman & Eric Verdin, 2019. "From discoveries in ageing research to therapeutics for healthy ageing," Nature, Nature, vol. 571(7764), pages 183-192, July.
    18. Kevin M. Murphy & Robert H. Topel, 2006. "The Value of Health and Longevity," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(5), pages 871-904, October.
    19. Berkman, Lisa F. & Truesdale, Beth C., 2023. "Working longer and population aging in the U.S.: Why delayed retirement isn’t a practical solution for many," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    20. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson, 2007. "Disease and Development: The Effect of Life Expectancy on Economic Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(6), pages 925-985, December.
    21. Roozbei Hosseini & Karen Kopecky & Kai Zhao, 2022. "The Evolution of Health over the Life Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 237-263, July.
    22. Seema Jayachandran & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2009. "Life Expectancy and Human Capital Investments: Evidence from Maternal Mortality Declines," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(1), pages 349-397.
    23. Marmot, M. & Allen, J.J., 2014. "Social determinants of health equity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(S4), pages 517-519.
    24. Allen, Steven G., 2023. "Demand for older workers: What do we know? What do we need to learn?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    25. Lawrence H Summers, 2014. "U.S. Economic Prospects: Secular Stagnation, Hysteresis, and the Zero Lower Bound," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 49(2), pages 65-73, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Akira Momota, 2022. "Long lifespan and optimal recurrent education," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 1193-1222, May.
    2. repec:got:cegedp:141 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Bloom, David E. & Kuhn, Michael & Prettner, Klaus, 2018. "Health and Economic Growth," IZA Discussion Papers 11939, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Keiya Minamimura & Daisihin Yasui, 2019. "From Physical to Human Capital Accumulation: Effects of Mortality Changes," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 34, pages 103-120, October.
    5. Holger Strulik & Volker Grossmann, 2022. "Life Cycle Economics with Infectious and Chronic Diseases," CESifo Working Paper Series 10141, CESifo.
    6. Strulik, Holger & Werner, Katharina, 2012. "Life Expectancy, Labor Supply, and Long-Run Growth: Reconciling Theory and Evidence," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-497, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    7. Gilles Le Garrec & Stéphane Lhuissier, 2011. "Life expectancy, heavy work and the return to education: lessons for the social security reform," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01069511, HAL.
    8. Strulik, Holger & Werner, Katharina, 2014. "Elite education, mass education, and the transition to modern growth," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 205, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    9. Thibault, Emmanuel & Ponthieres, Grégory, 2023. "Life Expectancy, Income and Long-Term Care: The Preston Curve Reexamined," TSE Working Papers 23-1474, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    10. Gilles Le Garrec, 2012. "Social security and growth in an aging economy : the case of acturial fairness," Sciences Po publications 2012-18, Sciences Po.
    11. Titus Galama & Hans van Kippersluis, 2022. "Human Capital Formation: The Importance of Endogenous Longevity," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-026/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    12. David E. Bloom & Michael Kuhn & Klaus Prettner, 2022. "Modern Infectious Diseases: Macroeconomic Impacts and Policy Responses," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 85-131, March.
    13. Schünemann, Johannes & Strulik, Holger & Trimborn, Timo, 2022. "Optimal demand for medical and long-term care," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    14. Kuhn, Michael & Prettner, Klaus, 2016. "Growth and welfare effects of health care in knowledge-based economies," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 100-119.
    15. Matteo Cervellati & Uwe Sunde, 2011. "Life expectancy and economic growth: the role of the demographic transition," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 99-133, June.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/53r60a8s3kup1vc9jiq0m4pg6 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Gilles Le Garrec, 2012. "Social security and growth in an aging economy : the case of acturial fairness," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01070354, HAL.
    18. Tscheuschner, Paul, 2021. "Endogenous life expectancy and R&D-based economic growth," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 01-2021, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    19. Casper Hansen & Lars Lønstrup, 2012. "Can higher life expectancy induce more schooling and earlier retirement?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(4), pages 1249-1264, October.
    20. Nuarpear Lekfuangfu, 2016. "Mortality Risk and Human Capital Investment: The Legacy of Landmines in Cambodia," PIER Discussion Papers 35., Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research, revised Jul 2016.
    21. Weil, David N., 2014. "Health and Economic Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 3, pages 623-682, Elsevier.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joecag:v:24:y:2023:i:c:s2212828x22000718. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-journal-of-the-economics-of-ageing .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.