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Longer Life, Higher Welfare?

Whereas life expectancy continues to increase in most industrialized countries many developing and transition countries are today confronted with decreases in life expectancy. Usual measures employed to compare welfare over time and space fail to deal with such demographic change and may lead to the so-called 'repugnant' conclusion that lower life expectancy involves higher welfare per capita. We illustrate this type of transmission channel using various welfare criteria and reference populations. We also consider feed-back effects from the demography on the economy using a neo-classical growth model. We show that the 'repugnant' conclusion can be avoided if we choose a lifetime welfare measure instead of a period (or snapshot) welfare measure. All concepts are illustrated empirically using a small sample of developed and developing countries.
Year of publication:
2006
Authors: Grimm, Michael ; Harttgen, Kenneth
Institutions: DIW Berlin (Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung)
Subject: Life expectancy | Repugnant conclusion | Welfare comparisons
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application/pdf
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Type of publication: Book / Working Paper
Language: English
Notes:
Number 556 24 pages long
Classification: D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement ; I31 - General Welfare; Basic Needs; Quality of Life ; J11 - Demographic Trends and Forecasts
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