This study summarizes and assimilates research by international scholars in economics, demography, and the other social sciences in order to provide a conceptual framework for the economics of aging. The objective of this analysis is to identify and describe the principal economic issues associated with individual and population aging and to assess the existing knowledge respecting the economic and social problems emerging with aging. The integration of interdisciplinary research is of special importance in any examination of gerontological issues, and we have been sensitive to this mandate. However, our primary focus has been on economic complexities of individual life-cycle allocation decisions and the macroeconomic problems that arise from age-structure changes.

The review is international in scope, as we trace the development of concern for population aging in Europe, the United States, and other industrialized countries. Theoretical concepts and changing demographic conditions are illustrated with data from various countries. Cross-national econometric studies are reported along with time-series and cross-sectional research on individual countries. National differences in the response to aging, the institutions that provide income maintenance to the elderly, and the economic conditions of the elderly are noted. In some cases, a single country is examined in detail to indicate a particular aspect of the economics of aging. Most frequently, the United States is chosen because of the availability of data, the greater number of empirical studies employing U.S. data, the familiarity of the authors with U.S. institutions, and the essential universality of aging phenomena.