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The Economics of Ageing and the Political Economy of Old Age

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  • Jackson, William A.

Abstract

Economic discussion of ageing has been largely neoclassical in approach. Ageing has become a specialism within population economics, which is itself a specialism within the neoclassical mainstream. An alternative view has come from authors in sociology and social policy, who have produced their own 'political economy of old age'. In contrast with neoclassical individualism, sociological depictions of aging have stressed the social construction of old age and the structured dependency of the elderly. Non-neoclassical economists have had little to say about ageing, despite some relevant work in the early days of Keynesianism. This paper argues that a combination of structural ideas from sociology and disequilibrium ideas from Keynesian and non-neoclassical economics can provide a suitable framework for the economics of ageing.

Suggested Citation

  • Jackson, William A., 1994. "The Economics of Ageing and the Political Economy of Old Age," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 31-45.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:263202
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sheldon Danziger & Jacques Van Der Gaag & Eugene Smolensky & Michael K. Taussig, 1982. "The Life-Cycle Hypothesis and the Consumption Behavior of the Elderly," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 208-227, December.
    2. Clark,Robert L. & Spengler,Joseph J., 1980. "The Economics of Individual and Population Aging," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521297028, October.
    3. Hurd, Michael D, 1990. "Research on the Elderly: Economic Status, Retirement, and Consumption and Saving," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 28(2), pages 565-637, June.
    4. R. F. Harrod, 1939. "Modern Population Trends1," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, June.
    5. William A. Jackson, 1992. "The Employment Distribution and the Creation of Financial Dependence," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, M.E. Sharpe, Inc., vol. 14(2), pages 267-280, January.
    6. Jackson, William A., 1991. "On the Treatment of Population Ageing in Economic Theory," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11(1), pages 59-68.
    7. Paul Teague, 1990. "The Political Economy of the Regulation School and the Flexible Specialisation Scenario," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 17(5), pages 32-54, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. William Jackson, 2006. "Post-Fordism and Population Ageing," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 449-467.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    population ageing; social construction; structured dependency; social gerontology; Keynesian economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
    • B50 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - General
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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