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How slowing senescence changes life expectancy

Author

Listed:
  • Joshua R. Goldstein

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Thomas Cassidy

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

Abstract

Mortality decline has historically been a result of reductions in the level of mortality at all ages. The slope of mortality increase with age has been remarkably stable. A number of leading researchers on aging, however, suggest that the next revolution of longevity increase will be the result of slowing down the rate of aging, lessening the rate at which mortality increases as we get older. In this paper, we show mathematically how varying the pace of senescence influences life expectancy. We provide a formula that holds for any baseline hazard function. Our result is analogous to Keyfitz's "entropy" relationship for changing the level of mortality. Interestingly, the influence of the shape of the baseline schedule on the effect of senescence changes is the complement of that found for level changes. We also provide a generalized formulation that mixes level and slope effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua R. Goldstein & Thomas Cassidy, 2010. "How slowing senescence changes life expectancy," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2010-006, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2010-006
    DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2010-006
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Noreen Goldman & Graham Lord, 1986. "A new look at entropy and the life table," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 23(2), pages 275-282, May.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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