Montreal Series: CIRANO-CIREQ-RSI-CREEi 2022 Workshop on the Economics of Ageing

Old age is often associated with lower income and labour supply, and with higher medical and long-term care needs. As population ages, this creates challenges both for society and individuals, some of which (especially related to long-term care) have been reinforced with the recent pandemic. For society, rising pension spending, plus health and long-term care demands put strain on public finances and health care systems, making the need to design efficient policies more urgent. Individuals and their families must often struggle with achieving sufficient savings, balancing work and care for the elderly, and deciding the right time to retire, the right type of care to use and the right risk-management products to cope with longevity, medical and long-term care risks.

This workshop gathered international and national researchers studying the economics of ageing. It focused on applied work related to ageing, inclusive of the following general themes:

  • the evaluation of public programs and policies for the elderly and their caregivers;
  • the provision of medical and long-term care services;
  • savings, insurance and portfolio choices in retirement;
  • intergenerational time and monetary transfers;
  • labour supply and retirement behaviours;
  • the labour market consequences of ageing;
  • the macroeconomic consequences of population ageing.

The program consisted of academic presentations (with discussions) from international specialists in the field of the economics of ageing. Presenters are listed below.

The Lifetime Costs of Bad Health
Svetlana Pashchenko
Slides

How Important Is Health Inequality for Lifetime Earnings Inequality?
Karen Kopecky
Slides

Cognitive Decline, Limited Awareness, Imperfect Agency, and Financial Well-being
Minjoon Lee
Slides

Why Do Couples and Singles Save During Retirement?
John Bailey Jones
Slides

General Equilibrium Effects of Insurance Expansions: Evidence from Long-Term Care Labor Markets
Martin B. Hackmann
Slides

Firm Accommodation and the Design of Social Insurance: Evidence from Return to Work after Workplace Disability
Naoki Aizawa
Working Paper