Papers presented at a joint Japan Center for Economic Research-National Bureau of Economic Research conference heod in Hakone, Japan, in September 1993.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

I. Demography and macroeconmic impact of aging. Projection of Japanese public pension costs in the first half of the twenty-first century and the effects of three possible reforms / Seiritsu Ogura -- The Effects of demographic trends on consumption, saving, and government expenditures in the United States / Michael D. Hurd -- Population aging and the savings-investment balance in Japan / Naohiro Yashiro and Akiko Sato Oishi -- The Economic position of the elderly in Japan / Naohiro Yashiro.

II. Aging and asset markets. The Consequences of population aging for private pension fund saving and asset markets / Sylvester J. Schieber and John B. Shoven -- The Effects of aging on national saving and asset accumulation in Japan / Naoto Yamauchi -- The Impact of demographics on housing and nonhousing wealth in the United States / Hilary W. Hoynes and Daniel L. McFadden -- Improvement of after-retirement income by home equity conversion mortgages: possibility and problems in Japan / Jukio Noguchi.

III. Aging, household saving, and retirement. The Effects of special saving programs on saving and wealth / James M. Poterba, Steven F. Venti, and David A. Wise -- The Economic status of the elderly in Japan: microdata finding / Noriyuki Takayama -- Retirement incentives: the interaction between employer-provided pensions, social security, and retiree health benefits / Robin L. Lumsdaine, James H. Stock, and David A. Wise -- Labor market implications of social security: company pension plans, public pensions, and retirement behavior of the elderly in Japan / Atsushi Seike.

IV. Public pension reform. Changing social security survivorship benefits and the poverty of widows / Michael D. Hurd and David A. Wise -- The Net pension debt of the Japanese government / Tatsuo Hatta and Noriyoshi Oguchi.

Due to falling fertility rates, the aging of the baby-boom cohort, and increases in life expectancy, the percentage of the population that is elderly is expected to increase rapidly in the United States and Japan over the next two decades. These fourteen essays show that, despite differences in culture and social and government structure, population aging will have many similar macro and micro effects on the economic status and behavior of the elderly in both countries. The most obvious effects will be on social programs such as public pension systems and the provision for medical needs of the.