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Technology, Tradition, and Treatment of the Elderly

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Abstract

We discuss the interrelationship between treatment of the elderly, production technology, technological progress, and transmission of culture using a model in which respect for the elderly is endogenous. We focus our analysis on the relative well-being of the elderly, and employ the model to explain cross-societal patterns in the relative well-being of the elderly, encompassing hunter-gatherer, subsistence agriculture, and modern, fully-developed societies. One result is that the cultivation of culture and norms for respect for the elderly bears a nonlinear relationship with the level of development and other fundamental features of the economy, such as the degree to which property rights are defined. We discuss how the elderly might be impacted by modern demographic, technological, and policy changes in both developing and developed economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew J. Baker & Joyce P. Jacobsen, 2022. "Technology, Tradition, and Treatment of the Elderly," Economics Working Paper Archive at Hunter College 452, Hunter College Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:htr:hcecon:452
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    File URL: http://econ.hunter.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/RePEc/papers/HunterEconWP452.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Matthew J. Baker & Joyce P. Jacobsen, 2007. "A Human Capital-Based Theory of Postmarital Residence Rules," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 208-241, April.
    2. Paul A. Samuelson, 1958. "An Exact Consumption-Loan Model of Interest with or without the Social Contrivance of Money," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(6), pages 467-467.
    3. Matthew J. Baker, 2003. "An Equilibrium Conflict Model of Land Tenure in Hunter-Gatherer Societies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(1), pages 124-173, February.
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    5. Andreoni, James, 1989. "Giving with Impure Altruism: Applications to Charity and Ricardian Equivalence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1447-1458, December.
    6. Varvarigos, Dimitrios, 2021. "Upstream intergenerational transfers in economic development: The role of family ties and their cultural transmission," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    7. Javier Olivera, 2013. "Old-age Support and Demographic Transition in Developing Countries. A Cultural Transmission Model," Working Papers 201307, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    8. Samuel Bowles, 1998. "Endogenous Preferences: The Cultural Consequences of Markets and Other Economic Institutions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 75-111, March.
    9. David N. Weil & Oded Galor, 2000. "Population, Technology, and Growth: From Malthusian Stagnation to the Demographic Transition and Beyond," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 806-828, September.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Elderly Treatment; Social Security; Gift-Giving; Inter Vivos Transfers; Economic Growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D15 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • O42 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Monetary Growth Models
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts

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