Domestic/International perspectives on well being at older ages

An organic cluster of health economists with appointments in Wharton, the School of Medicine, and the Leonard Davis Institute (LDI) of Health Economics has emerged (Chao, Doshi, Pagán, Pauly, Polsky,1 Smetters, Volpp). Their recent research points us firmly in the direction of our 2nd theme, linking ʺmid‐and late life‐well‐being to financial resources of individuals and the institutions affecting their accumulation.ʺ Pauly is the senior scholar in this group, which shares the perspective that well‐being in old age is jointly determined by health and wealth, not only at older ages but also by the interactions of these domains as they cascade over time and potentially compromise well‐being and individual robustness. In parallel to this application, several health economists are preparing another NIA P30 application to establish a Roybal Center for Translational Research on Aging in the Department of Medicine, with Kevin Volpp as PI and George Lowenstein of Carnegie Mellon University as Co‐PI. Volpp is also the director of the Center on Health Incentives at Whartonʹs LDI. His research focuses on experimental incentives to modify poor health behaviors, such as smoking. He was a recipient of a Yr 13 PARC pilot, “Financial Incentives for Weight Loss,” which is highlighted in Core B.2. Wharton faculty Mitchell and Smetters provide important analyses on how alternative pension systems affect the finances and thus the health and well‐being of aging populations. Both are leading authorities on the economics of public and private pensions and the demography of aging as it relates to savings as well as the interaction between pension types and the individual life cycle. Mitchell was awarded an NIA grant to partially support the conference “Redefining Retirement: How Will the Boomers Fare?” Madrian, Mitchell, and Soldo (2007) produced an edited conference volume by the same name. In a recent paper published in the J Monetary Econ, Mitchell compares wealth holdings of two HRS cohorts at age 51‐56: the early Baby Boomers (b. 1948‐53) and same‐aged persons in 1992 (b. 1936‐41). Levels and patterns of total net worth have changed relatively little over time, but Boomers rely more on housing equity than their predecessors.   1 Polsky recently served as a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisor to the President was named Director of Research at the LDI in Sept 2008.