Papers presented at a conference held in Carefree, Arizona in May 2003.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Introduction / David A. Wise -- Utility evaluation of risk in retirement saving accounts / James M Poterba ... [et al.] -- Passive decisions and potent defaults / James J. Choi ... [et al.] -- Characterizing the experiences of high-cost users in Medicare / Thomas MaCurdy, Jeff Geppert -- The efficiency of medicare / Jonathan Skinner ... [et al.] -- Intensive medical technology and the reduction in disability / David M. Cutler -- Broken down by work and sex: how our health declines / Anne Case, Angus Deaton -- Consequences and predictors of new health events / James P. Smith -- Healthy, wealthy, and knowing where to live: trajectories of health, wealth, and living arrangements among the oldest old / Florian Heiss ... [et al.] -- Institutions and saving for retirement: comparing the United States, Italy, and the Netherlands / Arie Kapteyn, Constantijn Panis -- Household saving in Germany: results of the first SAVE study / Axel Börsch-Supan, Lothar Essig -- Caste, culture, and the status and well-being of widows in India / Robert Jensen -- Individual subjective survival curves / Li Gan ... [et al.].

Analyses in the Economics of Aging summarizes a massive amount of new research on several popular and less-examined topics pertaining to the relationship between economics and aging. Among the many themes explored in this volume, considerable attention is given to new research on retirement savings, the cost and efficiency of medical resources, and the predictors of health events. The volume begins with a discussion of the risks and merits of 401(k) plans. Subsequent chapters present recent analysis of the growth of Medicare costs; the different aspects of disability; and the evolution of heal.