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on Economics of Ageing |
| By: | Agar Brugiavini; Raluca Elena Buia; Giacomo Pasini; Guglielmo Weber |
| Abstract: | Using data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we explore whether the recent pension reforms enacted in Italy had an impact on the inequality in health among individuals. We construct a set of indexes measuring several health outcomes (both physical and mental) and analyze their evolution along time (across SHARE waves) from 2004 to 2022, by relating them to the households’ income. While we can observe some differences in the health-income gradient between genders, we do not find evidence of a positive relationship between the introduction of the pension reforms and an increase in inequality. |
| JEL: | I14 I38 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34655 |
| By: | Elena Bassoli (ETH Zurich; Ca’ Foscari University of Venice); Ylenia Brilli (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; CHILD-Collegio Carlo Alberto) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how a reform increasing statutory retirement age from 60 to 64 affected women's incentives for early retirement. In Italy, women can anticipate retirement at 57 (with 35 contribution years), but subject to an annuity penalization. Using Italian administrative data, we compare women eligible for the early retirement scheme before and after the reform, finding a small effect on women's retirement age, but a substantial negative effect on annuity. Effects are stronger for women with low labor market attachment or working full-time, suggesting that reconciliation of paid and unpaid works is an important driver of early retirement choices. |
| Keywords: | statutory retirement; early retirement; women’s labor market attachment; social security wealth |
| JEL: | J16 J20 J22 J26 H55 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2025:30 |
| By: | Natee Amornsiripanitch; Philip E. Strahan; Song Zhang |
| Abstract: | Older home sellers receive lower returns than younger home sellers. Homes sold by older people have fewer major renovations but higher rates of poor upkeep. Older sellers are also more likely to sell off-MLS (“pocket listings”) and to sell to investors, leading to lower prices. These patterns suggest that older sellers may be disproportionately disadvantaged by agents’ incentive to maximize fees through generating high sales volume instead of maximizing sale prices. Age-related cognitive decline makes the elderly more vulnerable. For causal evidence, we show that reforms making pocket listings more transparent reduced both the prevalence of pocket listings and the magnitude of the age gap in returns. |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34656 |
| By: | Horioka, Charles Yuji |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of the age structure of the population on the household saving rate using time-series data for Japan for the 1955-2019 period. It finds that there is a cointegrating relationship between Japan's household saving rate and her dependency ratio (the ratio of the dependent population to the working-age population) and that the latter has a negative and statistically significant impact on the former. This implies that the life-cycle model applies in the case of Japan, that trends over time in the age structure of Japan's population can largely explain trends over time in Japan's household saving rate, that the downward trend in Japan's household saving rate since the mid-1970s can largely be explained by the aging of her population, and that further population aging will lead to further declines in Japan's household saving rate, most likely into negative territory, in future years. |
| Keywords: | age structure of the population, cointegration, cointegrating vector, household saving, Japan, life-cycle hypothesis, life-cycle model, population aging, saving rate, unit roots |
| JEL: | D12 D14 D15 E21 J11 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agi:wpaper:02000258 |
| By: | Horioka, Charles Yuji |
| Abstract: | The primary objective of this paper is to explore the determinants of the level of, and trends over time in, Japan's household saving rate, with emphasis on the impact of the age structure of the population, and to make projections about future trends therein. The paper finds that Japan's household saving rate has not always been high either absolutely or relative to other countries, contrary to popular belief, and that, if we confine ourselves to the postwar period, it was only during the 25-year period from 1961 to 1986 that it exceeded 15%. Past and future trends in Japan's household saving rate can largely be explained by changes in the age structure of her population, but declines in the saving rate of retired elderly households is a more important explanation for the recent decline in the household saving rate. However, it is likely that other factors such as the unavailability of consumer credit, the unavailability of social safety nets, high rates of economic (income) growth, tax breaks for saving, saving promotion policies, and high and rising land and housing prices are also partial explanations for why Japan's aggregate household saving rate was so high during the 1961-86 period and why it declined so much subsequently. As for future trends in Japan's aggregate household saving rate, it is likely to fall even further though not necessarily at a rapid rate. |
| Keywords: | age structure of the population, household consumption, household saving, Japanese economy, life-cycle hypothesis or model, population ageing, public pensions, saving promotion, social safety nets, wealth accumulation |
| JEL: | D10 D11 D12 D14 D15 D64 E21 H55 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agi:wpaper:02000259 |
| By: | Jing Li; Kathleen M. McGarry; Lauren Hersch Nicholas; Jonathan S. Skinner |
| Abstract: | Existing evidence suggests that wealth may decline before dementia onset, but the mechanisms underlying these reductions are poorly understood. Using longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, we compare household finance trajectories for individuals who later develop dementia and those who do not. We find that wealth divergence between the two groups is not explained by reduced earnings, higher healthcare spending, intentional “spend-down” to qualify for Medicaid coverage, state-dependent utility, or reverse causation by which wealth declines cause dementia. Instead, our results point to impaired financial decision-making beginning about six years prior to clinically recognizable dementia. |
| JEL: | G51 I10 I3 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34659 |
| By: | Huangfu, Bingyu; Jin, Songqing; Ortega, David; Shi, Xinjie |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:360649 |
| By: | Ángel de la Fuente |
| Abstract: | En esta nota se describe brevemente la última actualización de las series de cuentas consolidadas de la Seguridad Social Ampliada (SSA) para incorporar la liquidación de los Presupuestos de la Seguridad Social de 2024 que se recoge en (IGSS, 2025), así como un primer avance de los resultados de 2025 basado en datos de ejecución presupuestaria hasta noviembre de ese ejercicio. Para una discusión detallada de la construcción de las distintas variables que integran las series, véase de la Fuente (2023), excepto por el avance de 2025, que se discute más abajo. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdafen:2026-03 |
| By: | Marie Briere; James Poterba; Ariane Szafarz |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the demand for precautionary liquidity versus commitment contracts among participants in employer-sponsored retirement saving programs in France. All firms in the sample offer medium-term investments; they cannot be accessed for five years. Some also offer long-term (LT) investments, which cannot be accessed until retirement. If a plan offers LT investments, its auto-enrollment default must include them. Workers who experience changes in access to LT investments as a result of job changes are about 6 percentage points less likely to take up the plan default option, and 3 percentage points less likely to participate in the plan at all, when exposed to LT investments. We interpret this as a preference for precautionary liquidity, but two-thirds of active choosers still allocate some contributions, although less than the default, to LT investments, consistent with demand for partial commitment. |
| Date: | 2026–01–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/401522 |
| By: | Elena Bassoli (ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich]); Mathieu Lefebvre (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Jérôme Schoenmaeckers (ULiège - Université de Liège = University of Liège = Universiteit van Luik = Universität Lüttich) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we present estimates of the effect of different care settings on health and well-being outcomes. We use data from the French CARE Survey, which interviews individuals aged 60 and above, to assess the differential effect of living at home or in a nursing home on mortality, morbidity and well-being indicators. In addition, we differentiate the effect between for-profit and non-profit nursing homes. To do so, we apply a propensity score matching approach that controls for selection on observables by matching people living at home with those living in nursing homes. Our results are threefold. First, we observe a positive effect of being in a nursing home on health outcomes but a negative effect on other well-being indicators such as happiness and nervousness. Second, the ownership status of the nursing home matters and the positive effect is stronger for non-profit and public nursing homes. Third, residents in for-profit nursing homes appear to to be worse off than those in nonprofit institutions. These findings raise important questions for the future organization and the funding of long-term care. |
| Keywords: | Private vs public, Care, Propensity score matching, Nursing homes, Health outcomes |
| Date: | 2025–09–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05460270 |
| By: | Jaroszewski Vladimir |
| Abstract: | Este trabajo analiza la sostenibilidad financiera del Sistema Integrado Previsional Argentino (SIPA) frente al envejecimiento demográfico, la persistente informalidad laboral y la brecha de género. Se adopta el marco de las Cuentas Nacionales de Transferencias (CNT) y se construye el Coeficiente de Presión Previsional (CPPₜ) como indicador central de equilibrio contributivo. El análisis combina datos observados (2018–2024) con proyecciones demográficas y laborales hasta 2050. Se modelan cuatro escenarios: inercial, aumento de la edad jubilatoria femenina, reducción de la informalidad y reforma combinada. Ninguna medida aislada revierte el déficit contributivo, aunque las reformas combinadas permiten contenerlo en torno al 1, 5–2 % del PIB hacia mediados de siglo. Un ejercicio de sensibilidad incorpora la dimensión de suficiencia: elevar el haber mínimo hasta la canasta básica total mejora la suficiencia, pero compromete la cobertura previsional, que podría descender hasta el 70 %. Los resultados muestran que la sostenibilidad del SIPA requiere una estrategia integral que articule ajustes paramétricos, formalización laboral y financiamiento complementario. |
| JEL: | H55 J11 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aep:anales:4810 |
| By: | Chi, Xiaoyi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of California’s statewide expansion of the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP) on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation among older households. Using a Difference-in-Differences-in-Differences (DDD) methodology, the study finds that the RMP increased SNAP take-up by 2.6 percentage points, representing a 21.7% increase from the pre-policy participation rate. The analysis reveals significant heterogeneity, with younger seniors (aged 60–69) and counties with higher restaurant-to-population ratios experiencing the largest gains. While the RMP appears effective at reducing barriers to food access, its impact on participants’ overall well-being and nutrition remains a critical area for future research. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:360880 |
| By: | Runze Li; Rui Zhou; David Pitt |
| Abstract: | High-frequency death counts are now widely available and contain timely information about intra-year mortality dynamics, but most stochastic mortality models are still estimated on annual data and therefore update only when annual totals are released. We propose a mixed-frequency state-space (MF--SS) extension of the Lee--Carter framework that jointly uses annual mortality rates and monthly death counts. The two series are linked through a shared latent monthly mortality factor, with the annual period factor defined as the intra-year average of the monthly factors. The latent monthly factor follows a seasonal ARIMA process, and parameters are estimated by maximum likelihood using an EM algorithm with Kalman filtering and smoothing. This setup enables real-time intra-year updates of the latent state and forecasts as new monthly observations arrive without re-estimating model parameters. Using U.S. data for ages 20--90 over 1999--2019, we evaluate intra-year annual nowcasts and one- to five-year-ahead forecasts. The MF--SS model produces both a direct annual forecast and an annual forecast implied by aggregating monthly projections. In our application, the aggregated monthly forecast is typically more accurate. Incorporating monthly information substantially improves intra-year annual nowcasts, especially after the first few months of the year. As a benchmark, we also fit separate annual and monthly Lee--Carter models and combine their forecasts using temporal reconciliation. Reconciliation improves these independent forecasts but adds little to MF--SS forecasts, consistent with MF--SS pooling information across frequencies during estimation. The MF--SS aggregated monthly forecasts generally outperform both unreconciled and temporally reconciled Lee--Carter forecasts and produce more cautious predictive intervals than the reconciled Lee--Carter approach. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2601.05702 |