The Public Economics of Changing Longevity

The public policy implications of life expectancy that increases steadily while remains heavily differentiated according to gender, income and occupation.

Pierre Pestieau (Author)

9781009170857, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 February 2022

75 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 0.5 cm, 0.14 kg

Our societies are witnessing a steady increase in longevity. This demographic evolution is accompanied by some convergence across countries, but at the same time substantial longevity inequalities persist within nations across income classes. This Element aims to survey some crucial implications of changing longevity on the design of optimal public policy. For that purpose, it first focuses on some difficulties raised by risky and varying lifetime for the representation of individual and social preferences. Then, it explore some central implications of changing longevity for optimal policy making, regarding prevention against premature death, pension policies, education, health care and long-term care. The author distinguishes between the case when longevity is partially the responsibility of individuals and the case when longevity is plainly exogenous.

1. Introduction
2. Concepts and figures
3. Individual choice and social valuation
4. Public policy with exogenous longevity
5. Public policy with endogenous growth
References.

Subject Areas: Economic systems & structures [KCS], Political economy [KCP], Economics [KC]