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The pace of aging: Intrinsic time scales in demography

Author

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  • Tomasz Wrycza

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Demografische Forschung)

  • Annette Baudisch

    (Syddansk Universitet)

Abstract

Background: The pace of aging is a concept that captures the time-related aspect of aging. It formalizes the idea of a characteristic life span or intrinsic population time scale. In the rapidly developing field of comparative biodemography, measures that account for inter-species differences in life span are needed to compare how species age. Objective: We aim to provide a mathematical foundation for the concept of pace. We derive desired mathematical properties of pace measures and suggest candidates which satisfy these properties. Subsequently, we introduce the concept of pace-standardization, which reveals differences in demographic quantities that are not due to pace. Examples and consequences are discussed. Conclusions: Mean life span (i.e., life expectancy from birth or from maturity) is intuitively appealing, theoretically justified, and the most appropriate measure of pace. Pace-standardization provides a serviceable method for comparative aging studies to explore differences in demographic patterns of aging across species, and it may considerably alter conclusions about the strength of aging.

Suggested Citation

  • Tomasz Wrycza & Annette Baudisch, 2014. "The pace of aging: Intrinsic time scales in demography," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(57), pages 1571-1590.
  • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:30:y:2014:i:57
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.57
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vladimir Shkolnikov & Evgeny M. Andreev & Alexander Begun, 2003. "Gini coefficient as a life table function," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 8(11), pages 305-358.
    2. James W. Vaupel, 2010. "Biodemography of human ageing," Nature, Nature, vol. 464(7288), pages 536-542, March.
    3. Vladimir Canudas-Romo, 2008. "The modal age at death and the shifting mortality hypothesis," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(30), pages 1179-1204.
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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mortality; senescence; intrinsic time scaling; comparative aging research;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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