nep-age New Economics Papers
on Economics of Ageing
Issue of 2015‒05‒16
twenty papers chosen by
Claudia Villosio
LABORatorio R. Revelli

  1. Trends in Social Security Claiming By Alicia H. Munnell; Anqi Chen
  2. Over-aging - Are present human populations too old? By Robert Stelter
  3. Teaching elderly learners in Taiwan - relational perceptions and communication accommodation By Chin-hui Chen
  4. Who can predict their own Demise? Accuracy of Longevity Expectations by Education and Cognition By Teresa Bago d'Uva; Esen Erdogan Ciftci; Owen O'Donnell; Eddy van Doorslaer
  5. The population aging – a challenge for the sustainability of the Romanian social health insurance system By Eugenia Claudia Bratu; Dana Galieta Minc; Florentina Ligia Furtunescu
  6. Optimal Savings for Retirement: The Role of Individual Accounts By Julia Le Blanc; Almuth Scholl
  7. Longevity assets and pre-retirement consumption/portfolio decisions By Francesco Menoncin; Luca Regis
  8. Work Capacity and Longer Working Lives in Belgium By Jousten, Alain; Lefèbvre, Mathieu
  9. Does Regulation Matter? Riskiness in Pension Asset Allocation By Sandra Rigot
  10. Raport Desk Research: Polityka społeczna wobec starości i osób starszych w mieście Białystok. Przegląd literatury i dokumentów strategicznych By Klimczuk, Andrzej
  11. The Political Economy of (in)formal Long Term Care Transfers By Philippe De Donder; Marie-Louise Leroux
  12. Estonia: Making the most of human capital By Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter
  13. Hierarchical Lee-Carter model estimation through data cloning applied to demographically linked countries By A. Benchimol; Irene Albarrán; J. Miguel Marín; Pablo J. Alonso
  14. The effects of message framing in promoting healthy eating behaviors among young and elderly consumers By Bertolotti, Mauro; Chirchiglia, Giorgia; Catellani, Patrizia
  15. Customer perceptions of technology-based banking services:Influence of demographic variables By Jhalukpreya Surujlal; Ephrem Redda
  16. Adult Mortality and Modern Growth By Davide Fiaschi; Tamara Fioroni
  17. Competences of adult Poles - evaluation of the age as a differentiating factor By Alicja Grze
  18. Penalized composite link mixed models for two-dimensional count data By Diego Armando Ayma Anza; María Durbán; Dae-Jin Lee Hwang; Paul Eilers
  19. AN ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF THE PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ON THE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE ELDERLY WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT By Neslihan Lok; Sefa Lok
  20. Buddhist Perspective On Death: Implications For Non-Profit Marketing in Grief support And Terminal Illness By Koushiki Choudhury

  1. By: Alicia H. Munnell; Anqi Chen
    Abstract: With lower Social Security replacement rates, vanishing traditional pensions, and longer lifespans, many people will need to work longer to ensure a secure retirement. Working longer directly increases current income; it avoids the actuarial reduction in Social Security benefits; it allows people to contribute more to their 401(k) plans; and it shortens the period of retirement. The good news is that people have begun to respond; the average retirement age has increased by about two years over the last 25 years. The challenge is to reconcile this increase in work effort with the benefit claiming data published by the Social Security Administration (SSA). These data, which are released annually, show, of all workers claiming benefits in a given year, the percentage who are age 62, 63, 64, etc. These data suggest that the proportion of older men who claim benefits as early as possible did not change at all over the 1985-2005 period and has only begun to decline in the last decade. This pattern is not consistent with the rise in the average retirement age. The problem is that when the size of the group turning age 62 is increasing, as it has over the last two decades, the data will show that 62-yearold claimants make up a larger portion of total new claimants in a given year even if a smaller percentage of 62-year-old workers claim immediately. To accurately follow claiming behavior over time, one must look at cohort data. Such data show, of the potential claimants turning 62 in a given year, the percentage who claim benefits as soon as possible. This brief presents cohort patterns based on unpublished SSA data on people eligible to claim retired-worker benefits by birth year. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section describes the claim-year data published annually by SSA. The second section shows the change in the number of people turning 62 and discusses the impact of this “cohort effect” on claiming patterns. The third section presents claiming age by cohort. The final section concludes that the cohort (or birth-year) data, unlike the claim-year data, show that the share of people claiming Social Security retired worker benefits when they attain age 62 has been falling since the mid-1990s. This decline in people claiming early benefits is fully consistent with the increase in the average retirement age.
    Date: 2015–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:issbrf:ib2015-8&r=age
  2. By: Robert Stelter (UNIVERSITY OF ROSTOCK, Institute for Economics, Chair for Business Cycles and Growth and UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES))
    Abstract: This paper investigates the problem of an "optimum population" concerning age structures in a 3-period OLG-model with endogenous fertility and longevity. The first-best solution for a number-dampened total social welfare function, including Millian and Benthamite utilitarianism as two extreme cases, identifies the optimal age structure, generally failed in laissez-faire economies. As individuals don't internalize effects of longevity on life-cycle income, they overinvest in health. Additionally, they choose a non-optimal number of offspring. A calibration exercise for 80 countries emphasizes that an over-aging of populations crucially depends on social preferences and observed age structures. Interestingly, we find that in contrast to taxes on health expenditures, taxes or subsidies on children to decentralize the first-best solution are sensitive to social preferences.
    Keywords: endogenous fertility; adult mortality; optimal age structure; over-aging; optimal taxation
    JEL: H20 I10 J18
    Date: 2015–05–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2015009&r=age
  3. By: Chin-hui Chen (National Pingtung University of Science and Technology)
    Abstract: As inspired by the Notion of the Third Age, it is common for people to pursue an active post-retirement later life, such as, through the engagement in later life learning activities. One purpose is to increase the sense of positive ageing. That is why this study focuses on senior education as the institutional context to examine language and communication with the elderly. The main concern is that language is the main tool in classroom interactions and how language is used by teachers to challenge or reinforce certain pre-existing (ageist) stereotypes about or cultural attitudes towards older people becomes an important question to ask. Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) is the theoretical framework guiding the semi-structured interviews with teachers working in senior education to explore whether they modify their language styles to adapt to elderly learners’ conversational needs in class. This paper only presents one dimension of CAT, that is, the presumed relations and roles in association with language accommodation decisions. Teachers are presumed to have power over students but in the senior educational contexts, teachers are very likely younger than their students and therefore, intergenerational communication might emerge naturally in teacher-student interactions. In Taiwan, youngsters might perceive themselves less powerful than older people or those senior to them. Therefore, how power asymmetry in relation to the different facets of teacher-student relationships in senior educational contexts could also be an interesting topic to discuss.
    Keywords: communication accommodation theory, elderly learners, senior education, ageing stereotypes
    JEL: I29 I29
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003196&r=age
  4. By: Teresa Bago d'Uva (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands); Esen Erdogan Ciftci (Novartis, Turkey); Owen O'Donnell (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, University of Macedonia, Greece); Eddy van Doorslaer (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
    Abstract: Biased longevity expectations will lead to suboptimal decisions regarding saving, retirement, annuitization and health, with consequences for wellbeing in old age. Systematic differences in the accuracy of longevity expectations may partly explain heterogeneity in economic behaviour by education and cognitive functioning. Analysis of eight waves of the US Health and Retirement Study reveals that individuals with lower levels of education and cognitive functioning report survival probabilities that are less accurate in predicting their in-sample mortality. There is little evidence that the gradients in the veracity of expectations are due to the less educated and cognitively able responding less to changes in objective mortality risks. However, high school dropouts and the least cognitively able report survival probabilities that are less stable and display greater un explained variability. These disadvantaged groups appear to be less confident in their longevity beliefs, which is justified given that their expectations are less accurate.
    Keywords: Expectations; Mortality; Health; Cognition; Education
    JEL: D83 D84 I12 J14
    Date: 2015–05–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20150052&r=age
  5. By: Eugenia Claudia Bratu (University of Medicine and Pharmacy ”Carol Davila” Bucharest, Romania. Faculty of Medicine, Preclinical Department III – Complementary Sciences, Discipline of Public Health and Management); Dana Galieta Minc (University of Medicine and Pharmacy ”Carol Davila” Bucharest, Romania. Faculty of Medicine, Preclinical Department III – Complementary Sciences, Discipline of Public Health and Management); Florentina Ligia Furtunescu (University of Medicine and Pharmacy ”Carol Davila” Bucharest, Romania. Faculty of Medicine, Preclinical Department III – Complementary Sciences, Discipline of Public Health and Management)
    Abstract: Global population ageing in Romania is a challenge for ensuring the sustainability, and for maintaining the bioethical principle of distributive justice for the social health insurance system. This study aims to examine and to highlight the theoretical influence and the practical impact of the current demographic evolution on the Romanian health system financial sustainability. Along with the presentation of a demographic forecasting for the demographic quota of working age and after the age of 65 years by 2025, using the age specific fertility and mortality model for Romania 2014, the potential consequences regarding the sustainability and ethics of this demographic development are compared and analyzed, taking into acount the source of financing for the Romanian health system. Also, an analysis of the health status of the population over 65 years is performed, using health status and health interventions indicators.In 2013, Romanian population coverage with health insurance was 83.8%. Only 47% of the health insured persons have financially contributed to the system, 76% of the contributors being employees. Thus, given that 66% of the Unique National Health Insurance Fund's income are based on the contribution of employers and employees, the decreasing by more than 1 million people from working age quota and the rising with approximately 50 000 persons of the population over 65 years, can cause major disruptions in the functionality of the social health insurance system. Meantime, the health status of the over 65 population is characterized by indicators that are worsening.There are two possibilities of future evolution, cost restraints situation, in which the sustainability of the health insurance system is preserved, or negative situation of inability to cover the costs associated with the disease burden of an older population. The health system sustainability can be ensured, only if the onset for the first disability (in the length of life) may be delayed as much as possible towards the time of death, for the entire population. That means to upgrade and to enhance public health as a major policy for sustainability of the healthcare system.
    Keywords: population aging, health system sustainability, distributive justice
    JEL: I14 I18
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003722&r=age
  6. By: Julia Le Blanc (Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt a. Main, Germany); Almuth Scholl (Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Germany)
    Abstract: We employ a life-cycle model with income risk to analyze how tax-deferred individual accounts affect households’ savings for retirement. We consider voluntary accounts as opposed to mandatory accounts with minimum contribution rates. We contrast add-on accounts with carve-out accounts that partly replace social security contributions. Quantitative results suggest that making add-on accounts mandatory has adverse welfare effects across income groups. Carve-out accounts generate positive welfare across all income groups but gains are lower for low income earners. Default investment rules in individual accounts have a modest impact on welfare.
    Keywords: individual retirement accounts, household portfolio choice, consumption and saving over the life-cycle
    JEL: E21 H55 G11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:knz:dpteco:1510&r=age
  7. By: Francesco Menoncin (University of Brescia); Luca Regis (IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca)
    Abstract: We derive a closed form solution for the optimal consumption/investment problem of an agent whose force of mortality is stochastic and whose financial horizon coincides with a fixed retirement date. The investment set includes a longevity asset, as a derivative on the force of mortality. We explore the optimal choices of a representative agent having Hyperbolic Absolute Risk Aversion preferences on both consumption and final wealth. Our numerical analysis shows that individuals optimally invest a large fraction of their wealth in the longevity asset. In our base scenario, calibrated on real world data, a 60-year old male retiring after 5 years should invest around 88% of his wealth in the longevity asset. Such a percentage decreases as time to retirement decreases. We explore sensitivity of our results to market and individual characteristics.
    Keywords: longevity risk, pre-retirement savings, consumption/portfolio choices, HARA preferences
    JEL: C61 G11
    Date: 2015–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ial:wpaper:2/2015&r=age
  8. By: Jousten, Alain (University of Liège); Lefèbvre, Mathieu (Université de Strasbourg)
    Abstract: We explore the link between health indicators and employment rates of the population aged 55 or more. Our focus lies on work capacity as a key determinant of employment. Using cohort mortality information as a proxy for overall health outcomes, we establish a substantial untapped work capacity in the population 55+. Similar results are obtained when relying on individual-level objective and subjective health and socioeconomic parameters as predictors.
    Keywords: employment, retirement, work capacity
    JEL: J14 J21 J26
    Date: 2015–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9032&r=age
  9. By: Sandra Rigot (University Paris North)
    Abstract: We investigate the influence of investment regulations on the riskiness and procyclcality of defined-benefit (DB) pension funds' asset allocations. We provide a global comparison of the regulatory framework for public, corporate and industry pension funds in the US, Canada and the Netherlands. Derived from panel data analysis of a unique set of close to 600 detailed funds’ asset allocations, our results highlight that regulatory factors are vitally important – more so than the funds’ individual and institutional characteristics, in shaping these asset allocations. In particular, risk-based capital requirements, balance sheet recognition of unfunded liabilities, lower liability discount rates, and shorter recovery periods lead pension funds to decrease their asset allocation to risky assets. Risk-based capital requirements reduce overall risky asset allocation by as much as 5%, but they do not affect the asset classes identically. While equities, real estate and mortgages are at a disadvantage, high yield bonds and commodities are slightly favored.
    Keywords: Solvency, Pension funds, Defined Benefit, Liability discount rate, Valuation requirements, Financial stability, Regulation
    JEL: G28 G11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003259&r=age
  10. By: Klimczuk, Andrzej
    Abstract: Polish Abstract: Przygotowanie niniejszego opracowania zostało ukierunkowane na osiągnięcie dwóch celów poznawczych. Pierwszym celem jest przybliżenie podstaw teoretycznych dwóch wymiarów polityki społecznej - polityki wobec starości i polityki wobec ludzi starych. Drugi cel obejmuje natomiast analizę propozycji i faktycznie podejmowanych działań na rzecz osób starszych, które zostały zawarte w dokumentach strategicznych i raportach badawczych opracowanych na poziomie centralnym, regionalnym (woj. podlaskie) i lokalnym (miasto Bialystok). Przegląd tym samym ma na celu rozpoznanie dotychczasowych praktyk, jak również działań zalecanych lecz do tej pory nie wdrażanych oraz zakresu zaangażowania partnerów społecznych na wszystkich etapach konstruowania i wdrażania omawianego obszaru polityki społecznej. Raport oparty jest na analizie danych zastanych (Desk Research). English Abstract: Preparation of this study was designed to achieve two objectives. The first goal is to introduce the theoretical basis of two dimensions of social policy - policy towards old age and policy towards older people. The second objective covers analyzes of the proposals and actually undertaken activities for older people that were included in strategic documents and research reports compiled at central, regional (Podlaskie Voivodeship) and local levels (city of Bialystok). Thus, overview was aimed to identify current practices, as well as recommended actions that have not been implemented and the extent of involvement of social partners at all stages of the design and implementation of this area of ??social policy. The report is based on analysis of existing data (desk research).
    Keywords: older people, old age, social policy, ageing policy, public policy on ageing
    JEL: J14 J18 Z18
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64241&r=age
  11. By: Philippe De Donder; Marie-Louise Leroux
    Abstract: We develop a model where families consist of one parent and one child, with children diering in income and all agents having the same probability of becoming dependent when old. Young and old individuals vote over the size of a social long term care transfer program, which children complement with informal (time) or formal (money) help to their dependent parent. Dependent parents have an intrinsic preference over informal to monetary help. We rst show that low (resp., high) income children provide informal (resp. formal) help, whose amount is decreasing (resp. increasing) with the child's income. The middle income class may give no family help at all, and its elderly members would be the main beneciaries of the introduction of social LTC transfers. We then provide several reasons for the stylized fact that there are little social LTC transfers in most countries. First, social transfers are dominated by informal help when the intrinsic preference of dependent parents for informal help is large enough. Second, when the probability of becoming dependent is lower than one third, the children of autonomous parents are numerous enough to oppose democratically the introduction of social LTC transfers. Third, even when none of the rst two conditions is satised, the majority voting equilibrium may entail no social transfers, especially if the probability of becoming dependent when old is not far above one third. This equilibrium may be local (meaning that it would be defeated by the introduction of a suciently large social program). This local majority equilibrium may be empirically relevant whenever new programs have to be introduced at a low scale before being eventually ramped up.
    Keywords: Majority voting, Local Condorcet winner, Crowding out, Intrinsic preference for informal help, Tax reform
    JEL: H55 I13 D91
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:criacr:1508&r=age
  12. By: Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter
    Abstract: Labour input in Estonia remains lower than before the crisis. Skill mismatches between workers and jobs contribute to structural unemployment and emigration, notably among young, employed workers, has reduced labour supply. Although the government has lowered labour taxes and further reductions are planned, government revenues still rely heavily on taxing employment. Shifting some of the tax burden on labour to real estate would make the tax system more employment friendly. High costs reduce the returns workers earn on the assets in the compulsory private pension system, effectively raising the tax burden on labour. There is scope to reduce costs. In the public pension system, phasing out early retirement schemes for workers in specific sectors or professions would make room for lower social security contributions. They pay gap between men and women is substantial and further steps could be envisaged to reduce it. Reforms to improve the skills of Estonian workers have a high pay-off in view of increased demand for skilled workers. The recent initiatives of the government to foster life-long learning and improve financial support for students from low-income families in tertiary education are welcome. There is scope to promote apprenticeships, for example by fostering cooperation between local firms and local schools. This would help reduce skill mismatch. More financial support is needed for students, especially to ensure youth have access to upper secondary vocational education. This Working Paper relates to the 2015 OECD Economic Survey www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-estonia.htm<P>Estonie : utiliser au mieux le capital humain<BR>L’utilisation de la main-d’oeuvre reste plus faible qu’avant la crise. Les inadéquations entre les compétences offertes et les compétences demandées contribuent au chômage structurel et l’émigration, notamment parmi les jeunes travailleurs salariés, réduit l’offre de main-d’oeuvre. Bien que le gouvernement ait diminué les impôts sur le travail et que de nouvelles réductions soient prévues, les recettes publiques dépendent encore fortement de cette forme de fiscalité. Le régime fiscal pourrait devenir plus favorable à l’emploi si une partie de la charge fiscale pesant sur le travail était reportée sur le secteur immobilier. Les coûts élevés de gestion des fonds de pension nuisent au rendement du système de retraite privé obligatoire, ce qui a pour effet d’accroître la charge fiscale pesant sur la main-d’oeuvre. Ces coûts pourraient être réduits. Dans le régime public de retraite, la suppression progressive des dispositifs de préretraite dont bénéficient certains secteurs ou professions libèrerait une marge de manoeuvre pour abaisser les cotisations de sécurité sociale. L’écart de rémunération entre hommes et femmes est important et d’autres mesures pourraient être envisagées pour le combler. Les réformes destinées à améliorer les qualifications des travailleurs estoniens ont de fortes retombées positives face à une demande de travailleurs qualifiés en augmentation. Les initiatives engagées récemment par les autorités pour encourager l’apprentissage tout au long de la vie et accroître le soutien financier apporté aux étudiants du supérieur issus de familles à faible revenu sont bienvenues. L’apprentissage pourrait être encore amélioré, par exemple en encourageant la coopération entre les entreprises locales et les établissements scolaires locaux, ce qui contribuerait à réduire les inadéquations de compétences. Un soutien financier plus important devrait être fourni aux étudiants, surtout pour assurer l’accès des jeunes au deuxième cycle de l’enseignement secondaire professionnel. Ce document de travail se rapporte à l’Étude économique de l’OCDE 2013 sur l’Estonie. www.oecd.org/fr/eco/etudes/etude-economi que-estonie.htm
    Keywords: vocational education, public pensions, Estonia, social security contributions, labour supply, private pensions, part-time work, gender pay gap, access to education, offre de main d’oeuvre, écart de rémunération entre les sexes, formation professionnelle, pensions privées, pensions publiques, travail à temps partiel, charges sociales, accès à la formation, Estonie
    JEL: J16 J22 J24 J26 J32
    Date: 2014–05–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1214-en&r=age
  13. By: A. Benchimol; Irene Albarrán; J. Miguel Marín; Pablo J. Alonso
    Abstract: Some groups of countries are connected not only economically, but also social and even demographically. This last fact can be exploited when trying to forecast the death rates of their populations. In this paper we propose a hierarchical specification of the Lee-Carter model and we assume that there is a common latent mortality factor for all of them. We introduce an estimation procedure for this kind of structures by means of a data cloning methodology. To our knowledge, this is the first time that this methodology is used in the actuarial field. It allows approximating the maximum likelihood estimates, which are not affected by the prior distributions assumed for the calculus. Finally, we apply the methodology to some France, Italy, Portugal and Spain data. The forecasts obtained using this methodology can be considered as very satisfactory.
    Keywords: Bayesian inference , Data cloning , Hierarchical model , Lee-Carter model , Longevity risk , Projected life tables
    Date: 2015–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:wsrepe:ws1510&r=age
  14. By: Bertolotti, Mauro; Chirchiglia, Giorgia; Catellani, Patrizia
    Keywords: Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy,
    Date: 2015–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa143:202697&r=age
  15. By: Jhalukpreya Surujlal (North-West University (Vaal Campus)); Ephrem Redda (North-West University (Vaal Campus))
    Abstract: Due to technological advancements and innovation, technology-based banking has gained importance as an alternative means of providing services to customers. As a result the understanding and measuring of service quality of technology-based banking has become an indispensable marketing management imperative to bank managers over the recent years. The aim of this paper was to investigate if there are significant differences on customer perceptions of technology-based banking services by certain demographic variables, namely, age and gender. A structured questionnaire was completed by one hundred and eighty customers (n=180). Using a factor analysis procedure seven factors that influence customer perceptions of online banking service quality were extracted. ANOVA was then applied to examine the differences among the means of the socio-biographic variables with regard to their perceptions of the different service dimensions of technology-based banking services. The study revealed that there were significant differences among the different age groups while no significant differences were observed between males and females. The younger age group (under 20 years) seem to rate the quality of the technology-based banking services lower with respect to the following factors: factor 1 (assurance, trust and appeal), factor 5 (fulfilment) and factor 6 (speed and accuracy). Factor 4 (accessibility), was, however, viewed favourably by this age group. Their older and more mature counterparts (50-59 years old) perceived factor 5 (fulfilment) more favourably than did the younger age cohorts. These findings could be used for monitoring and measuring the service levels of online banking service quality to identify areas of improvement.
    Keywords: Customer perceptions, technology-based banking, service quality, ANOVA, age and gender
    JEL: M31
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003572&r=age
  16. By: Davide Fiaschi (Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), Università di Pisa); Tamara Fioroni (Department of Economics (University of Verona))
    Abstract: In this paper we analyze the relationship between (adult) mortality and the long-run development of countries from an empirical and theoretical perspective. A quantitative exploration of the model shows that improvements in adult survival rates alone bring an economy towards a Malthusian regime in the long run, while a transition from a Malthusian to a modern regime requires substantial advances in technological progress. Limited gains in technological progress associated with a strong decline in adult mortality can produce a sort of “false” take-off, i.e. an economy passed from a Malthusian to a pre-modern regime can be pushed back by the increasing demographic pressures.
    Keywords: Unified Growth Theory, Human Capital, Adult mortality, Non-linear Dynamics, Endogenous Fertility, Industrial Revolution
    JEL: O10 O40 I20
    Date: 2015–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ver:wpaper:22/2015&r=age
  17. By: Alicja Grze (Wroc)
    Abstract: Skills and competences are important factors influencing the human capital resources especially in the era of the knowledge-based economy. All professional activities demand various competences. Moreover, it becomes necessary to continuously enrich knowledge and skills because of the rapidly changing environment. Possessing and developing skills turn out to be indispensable elements in the functioning of the labour market. On the other hand, Poland, as many other European countries, faces the problem of the aging society and potential lack of the qualified labour force in the future. Qualifications development is therefore extremely important from the economic point of view. This paper concerns the topic of the resources of the competences possessed by the adult Poles. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the assessment of the competences made by the respondents of the nationwide survey on the human capital in Poland. Skills from various fields are taken into account. Special attention is paid to the relationships between the age and the declared skills. One of the key questions under consideration is if there are substantial demographical determinants of the competences. The dataset used for the analyses comprises variables from various measurement scales. Chosen statistical techniques adequate for such data are applied to explore and describe the nature of the relationships. Additionally, the analyses are supported by some visualization methods appropriate for a multidimensional approach.
    Keywords: adults competences, ageing society, statistical analysis
    JEL: J24 J19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003698&r=age
  18. By: Diego Armando Ayma Anza; María Durbán; Dae-Jin Lee Hwang; Paul Eilers
    Abstract: Mortality data provide valuable information for the study of the spatial distribution of mortality risk, in disciplines such as spatial epidemiology, medical demography, and public health. However, they are often available in an aggregated form over irregular geographical units, hindering the visualization of the underlying mortality risk and the detection of meaningful patterns. Also, it could be of interest to obtain mortality risk estimates on a finer spatial resolution, such that they can be linked with potential risk factors — in a posterior correlation analysis — that are usually measured in a different spatial resolution than mortality data. In this paper, we propose the use of the penalized composite link model and its representation as a mixed model to deal with these issues. This model takes into account the nature of mortality rates by incorporating the population size at the finest resolution, and allows the creation of mortality maps at a desirable scale, reducing the visual bias resulting from the spatial aggregation within original units. We illustrate our proposal with the analysis of several datasets related with deaths by respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and lung cancer.
    Keywords: Penalized composite link models , Mixed Models , Mortality rates , Spatial disaggregation
    Date: 2015–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:wsrepe:ws1509&r=age
  19. By: Neslihan Lok (Akdeniz University, Nursing Faculty, Psychiatric Nursing Department); Sefa Lok (Selcuk University, School of Physical Education and Sports, Coaching Education Department)
    Abstract: Introduction: Mild cognitive impairment is the pathological case in which the individual is between dementia and healthy. Therefore, especially in the protection, it is necessary to maintain and protect the cognitive functions. The physical activities exercised by the old people are crucial in increasing the cognitive functions or in maintenance of the present condition.Aim: In this research, the aim is to analyse the effects of the physical activities on the cognitive functions of the old people with mild cognitive impairment.Methods: The research was organized within the order of pretest-posttest design as experimental type using control groups. For the experiment, 25 old people with mild cognitive impairment who were convenient for physical activities were selected with regard to the doctors’ advice. For the control group, a group of old people with mild cognitive impairment was listed. For the old people in the experimental group, a physical activity programme was applied including 30 minutes walk and 30 minutes regular exercise three days in a week which had continued for four weeks. Nothing was applied on the control group. Sociodemographic form and Standardized Mini Mental Test were applied on the old people both before and after the activity. The data has been analysed using Mann Whitney U test and percentage distributions.Results: The average age of the experimental group is 71.3±3.6and the control group is 70.2±42. The average mini mental test point of the old people in the experimental group before the activity (20.6±2.4) increased considerably after the activity (24.3±3.6) and the difference is significant statistically (p<0.05). When the mini mental test points of the experimental and control group was compared after the activity, it was found out that the experimental group has higher points compared to the experimental group and the difference is significant (p<0.05).Conclusions: Regular and a three-day week physical activity program improved the cognitive functions of the old people with mild cognitive impairment.
    Keywords: Elderly, Mild cognitive impairment, Physical activity, Cognitive functions
    JEL: I19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003252&r=age
  20. By: Koushiki Choudhury (Indian Institute of Management Calcutta)
    Abstract: This study explores the concept of death with an ethnographic study of a worldwide Buddhist organization. Buddhism deals with the elementary questions of life and death in a manner that can alleviate the fear of death and the resultant anxiety; it illuminates the eternity of life. The ebb and flow of birth and death are perceived as the inherent workings of life that is eternal, timeless.The implications of the Buddhist view of death for creating value in the case of nonprofit organizations and hospices providing care, counseling, and emotional support to people facing terminal or irreversible illness as well as for end-of-life care and grief and bereavement support organizations are discussed.
    Keywords: death; nonprofit organization;consciousness
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003164&r=age

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