IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/popdev/v27y2001i3p411-436.html

Life Span Extension in Humans Is Self‐Reinforcing: A General Theory of Longevity

Author

Listed:
  • James R. Carey
  • Debra S. Judge

Abstract

This article proposes that longevity is not merely the result of an absence of mortality but a self‐reinforcing and positively selected life‐history trait in social species. It argues that a small increase in longevity is amplified as (1) reductions in mortality at young ages increase natural selection for mechanisms of maintenance and repair at all older ages as well as increasing the potential for intergenerational transfers; (2) intergenera‐tional transfers of resources from old to young increase fitness (e.g., through improved health, skill, and competitive ability) of the young and thus favor the presence of older individuals in a population; and (3) the division of labor increases both efficiency and innovation at all levels, resulting in increased resources that can be reinvested. This theory is framed around the longevity‐oriented question posed two decades ago by the ger‐ontologist George Sacher, “Why do we live as long as we do?,” rather than the more prevalent question today, “Why do we grow old?” The article describes the foundational principles and the main phases of a model for the evolution of longevity mediated through social organization, and applies the concept specifically to human populations.

Suggested Citation

  • James R. Carey & Debra S. Judge, 2001. "Life Span Extension in Humans Is Self‐Reinforcing: A General Theory of Longevity," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 27(3), pages 411-436, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:27:y:2001:i:3:p:411-436
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2001.00411.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2001.00411.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2001.00411.x?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. repec:cai:popine:popu_p1959_14n4_0764 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Samuel H. Preston & Michael R. Haines, 1991. "Fatal Years: Child Mortality in Late Nineteenth-Century America," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number pres91-1, December.
    3. Abramovitz,Moses, 1989. "Thinking about Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521333962, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Margaret Weden, 2007. "Twentieth Century U.S. Racial Inequalities in Mortality Changes in the Average Age of Death and the Variability in the Age of Death for White and non-White Men and Women, 1900-2002," Working Papers 497, RAND Corporation.
    2. Tobias C. Vogt & Fanny A. Kluge, 2013. "Care for money? Mortality improvements, increasing intergenerational transfers, and time devoted to the elderly," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2013-014, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Jan Beise, 2004. "The helping and the helpful grandmother - The role of maternal and paternal grandmothers in child mortality in the 17th and 18th century population of French Settlers in Quebec, Canada," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2004-004, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    4. Margaret M. Weden, 2007. "Twentieth Century U.S. Racial Inequalities in Mortality Changes in the Average Age of Death and the Variability in the Age of Death for White and non-White Men and Women, 1900-2002," Working Papers WR-497, RAND Corporation.
    5. Mariano Torras, 2006. "The Impact of Power Equality, Income, and the Environment on Human Health: Some Inter-Country Comparisons," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20.
    6. Tobias C. Vogt & Fanny A. Kluge, 2014. "Care for Money?: Mortality Improvements, Increasing Intergenerational Transfers, and Time Devoted to the Elderly," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 721, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    7. Fanny A. Kluge & Tobias C. Vogt, 2020. "Intergenerational transfers within the family and the role for old age survival," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-021, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    8. Jon Anson, 2013. "Surviving to be the oldest old—destiny or chance?," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 11(1), pages 71-85.

    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. repec:ilo:ilowps:366690 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Barnes, Geoffrey & Guinnane, Timothy W., 2010. "Social Class and the Fertility Transition: A Critical Comment on the Statistical Results Reported in Simon Szreter's Fertility, Class and Gender in Great Britain, 1860-1940," Working Papers 87, Yale University, Department of Economics.
    3. Eloi Laurent & Jacques Le Cacheux, 2006. "Integrity and Efficiency in the EU: The Case against the European economic constitution," Working Papers hal-00972707, HAL.
    4. Joseph Molitoris & Martin Dribe, 2016. "Industrialization and inequality revisited: mortality differentials and vulnerability to economic stress in Stockholm, 1878–1926," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 20(2), pages 176-197.
    5. Enrico Santarelli & Hien Tran, 2013. "The interplay of human and social capital in shaping entrepreneurial performance: the case of Vietnam," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 435-458, February.
    6. Bengtsson, Tommy & Broström, Göran, 2009. "Do conditions in early life affect old-age mortality directly and indirectly? Evidence from 19th-century rural Sweden," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1583-1590, May.
    7. Salisbury, Laura, 2014. "Selective migration, wages, and occupational mobility in nineteenth century America," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 40-63.
    8. Andrés Maroto Sánchez & Juan Ramón Cuadrado Roura, 2008. "New Regional convergence in productivity and productive structure. Application to European Southern countries," Working Papers 11/08, Instituto Universitario de Análisis Económico y Social.
    9. Jamison, Eliot A. & Jamison, Dean T. & Hanushek, Eric A., 2007. "The effects of education quality on income growth and mortality decline," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 771-788, December.
    10. Irene Barbiera & Gianpiero Dalla‐Zuanna, 2009. "Population Dynamics in Italy in the Middle Ages: New Insights from Archaeological Findings," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 367-389, June.
    11. Ryan Masters & Robert Hummer & Daniel Powers & Audrey Beck & Shih-Fan Lin & Brian Finch, 2014. "Long-Term Trends in Adult Mortality for U.S. Blacks and Whites: An Examination of Period- and Cohort-Based Changes," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(6), pages 2047-2073, December.
    12. Marco-Gracia, Francisco J. & Puche, Javier, 2021. "The association between male height and lifespan in rural Spain, birth cohorts 1835-1939," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    13. Robert Woods, 2003. "Urban‐Rural Mortality Differentials: An Unresolved Debate," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 29(1), pages 29-46, March.
    14. Angus Maddison, 1997. "Causal Influences on Productivity Performance 1820–1992: A Global Perspective," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 325-359, November.
    15. Riccardo Leoni, 2013. "Organization of work practices and productivity: an assessment of research on world- class manufacturing," Chapters, in: Anna Grandori (ed.), Handbook of Economic Organization, chapter 17, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Andrew London & Cheryl Elman, 2001. "The influence of remarriage on the racial difference in motheronly families in 1910," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(2), pages 283-297, May.
    17. repec:max:cprpbr:007 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Fletcher, Jason M. & Topping, Michael & Joo, Won-tak, 2023. "Trends in the Female Longevity Advantage of 19th-Century Birth Cohorts: Exploring the Role of Place and Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 16018, IZA Network @ LISER.
    19. Angus Deaton, 2003. "Health, Inequality, and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 41(1), pages 113-158, March.
    20. Torres Mazzi, Caio & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2021. "Imported intermediates, technological capabilities and exports: Evidence from Brazilian firm-level data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    21. Matthias Cinyabuguma & Bill Lord & Christelle Viauroux, 2009. "Schooling, Fertility, and Married Female Labor Supply: What Role for Health?," UMBC Economics Department Working Papers 09-108, UMBC Department of Economics.
    22. Gerrit Rooks & Adam Szirmai & Arthur Sserwanga, 2009. "Interplay of Human and Social Capital in Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: The Case of Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-09, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:popdev:v:27:y:2001:i:3:p:411-436. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0098-7921 .

    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.