TY  - JOUR
A1  - Philipov, Dimiter
A1  - Goujon, Anne
A1  - Di Giulio, Paola
T1  - Ageing dynamics of a human-capital-specific population: A demographic perspective
Y1  - 2014/12/03
JF  - Demographic Research
JO  - Demographic Research
SN  - 1435-9871
SP  - 1311
EP  - 1336
DO  - 10.4054/DemRes.2014.31.44
VL  - 31
IS  - 44
UR  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/44/
L1  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/44/31-44.pdf
L2  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/44/31-44.pdf
N2  - Background: Research on how rising human capital affects the consequences of population ageing rarely considers the fact that the human capital of the elderly population is composed in a specific way that is shaped by their earlier schooling and work experience. For an elderly population of a fixed size and age-sex composition, this entails that the higher its human capital, the greater the total amount of public pensions to be paid. 

Objective: The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the link between human capital and retiree benefits and its effect on population ageing from a demographic viewpoint. 

Methods: We construct an old age dependency ratio (OADR), in which each person, whether in the numerator or the denominator, is assigned the number of units corresponding to his/her level of human capital. Based on data for Italy, we study the dynamics of this human-capital-specific OADR with the help of multistate population projections to 2107. 

Results: Our results show that under specific conditions a constant or moderately growing human capital may aggravate the consequences of population ageing rather than alleviate them. 

Conclusions: With those findings, the authors would like to stimulate the debate on the search for demographic and/or socio-economic solutions to the challenges posed by population ageing. 

ER  -