Optimal Aging and Death: Understanding the Preston Curve
Research output: Working paper
Documents
- DP 11-09
Submitted manuscript, 457 KB, PDF document
The present study examines whether the Preston curve reflects a causal impact of income on longevity or, for example, factors correlated with both income and life expectancy. In order to understand the Preston curve better, we develop a model of optimal intertemporal consumption in which the representative consumer is subject to physiological aging. In modeling aging we draw on recent research in the fields of biology and medicine. The speed of the aging process, and thus the time of death, are endogenously determined by optimal health investments. We calibrate the model to US data and proceed to show that the model accounts for nearly 80% of the cross-country differences in life expectancy that the Preston curve captures.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Publisher | Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen |
Number of pages | 30 |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
- Faculty of Social Sciences
Research areas
Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk
No data available
ID: 32959407