PARC

This research investigates mortality differentials in Eastern Europe, a region known for its excessively high adult mortality. It employs a unique longitudinal data set covering the entire population of Bulgaria from the census of 1992 until 1998. It focuses on differences in mortality between Muslims, a large and disadvantaged minority group, and non-Muslims. Virtually nothing is known about the health conditions of Muslims in Europe.

The purpose of this study is to investigate race/ethnic differences in disability in the United States with an emphasis on immigrant populations and their U.S. born counterparts. The study utilizes the 5% PUMS sample from the 2000 Census of Population; the 2000 Census included a new set of questions on disability. The Census provides the most comprehensive information on race/ethnicity available in US data sources and the size of the 5% sample makes the Census the only data source that permits detailed analyses of health status among smaller race/ethnic subgroups in the United States.

Time preference describes the ubiquitous phenomenon that individuals prefer to receive and to consume a reward sooner rather than later. The utility from consumption in the future is often “discounted” relative to the utility from consumption now of the same commodity bundle, ceteris paribus. Time preference drives futureoriented investment behavior, including savings for retirement, pursuit of healthy lifestyles, human capital investment for oneself and for one’s offsprings.

The principal aim of the proposed research is to understand the relationship between both the survival and the co-residency of grandparents and their grandchildren’s mortality based on the 1993 Gambia census. It will build on a preliminary descriptive analysis of grandparents and grandchildren to be published as part of a volume on African households edited by Etienne van de Walle, who is also the PI for the project.

The goal of this pilot project is to understand the impact of intra-household coinsurance on consumption commitments and precautionary saving. A precautionary savings motive implies that people will spend more and save less when they face lower risks. In general, this effect is hard to detect since there is little variation in risk that is both large and exogenous. Consequently, research attempting to identify precautionary saving has generally yielded conflicting or insignificant effects.

The objective is to analyze the factors that are associated with the use of self-medication/self-prescription in Mexico using survey data on adults 50 years of age and older from the 2001 Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). The central hypothesis of the proposed research is that socioeconomic status, employment, health insurance and personal beliefs are related to the use of self-medication in Mexico.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic disease of moderate to long duration. Numerous studies have used variations in the rate of progression of AD to compare therapies and the effects of various bio-medical markers and for clinical use. Studying progression is more difficult if the measure of severity does not change linearly, since the random effects models are difficult to interpret if there are nonlinear terms. Preliminary examinations suggest that the Dementia Severity Rating Scale (DSRS) has great potential in this regard.

In the aging society, literacy skills among older adults become increasingly relevant for their economic and health outcomes, which makes it important to examine the levels and distributions of literacy skills among old population. In this pilot study, I compare the distributions of literacy skills among aged 56-65 in the U.S. and 19 other countries that participated in the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). I focus on the crossnational variation in the literacy gap between those with high levels and those with low levels of education.

The proposed research seeks to investigate the adequacy and characteristics of investment choices offered by 401(k) plans. When constrained or inappropriate investment menus are offered to participants, they may experience decreases in returns as compared to a benchmark efficient portfolio. The goal, therefore, is to produce a working paper which measures the efficiency shortfall patterns in pension plan menu offerings, and to characterize these according to employee and plan characteristics.

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) established a new Medicare “Part D” that gives people access to a private Medicare prescription drug plan. The new law has particular relevance for the 6.4 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries also enrolled in Medicaid. These beneficiaries – often referred to as “dual eligibles” had their prescription coverage shifted from Medicaid to private Part D plans starting January 1, 2006.