Going from bad to worse: Adaptation to poor health, health spending, longevity, and the value of life

Arbeitspapier

Aging humans adapt to their worsening state of health and old people are usually happier than estimated by young individuals. In this paper we investigate how adaptation to a deteriorating state of health affects health spending, life expectancy, and the value of life. We set up a a life cycle model in which individuals are subject to physiological aging, calibrate it with data from gerontology, and compare behavior and outcomes of adapting and non-adapting individuals. While adaptation generally increases the value of life (by about 2 to 5 percent), its impact on health behavior and longevity depends crucially on whether individuals are aware of their adaptive behavior.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: cege Discussion Papers ; No. 268

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡ ; Value of Life; Forgone Income ; Retirement; Retirement Policies ; Health Behavior
• Thema: health ; adaption ; aging ; longevity ; health care demand

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Schünemann, Johannes ; Strulik, Holger ; Trimborn, Timo
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): University of Göttingen, Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research (cege)
• (wo): Göttingen
• (wann): 2015

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/123284
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:42 MEZ