Demography of Aging

From 2010-2015, the annual growth rate of older adults was 3.3 percent globally (United- Nations 2017). As the proportion of the world’s population continues to age, the increasing number of older adults in the population presents significant challenges for policy makers in nearly all sectors of society. According to the United Nations Population Ageing Report 2017, the global population of adults 60 years and older increased more than two-fold from 382 million in 1980 to 962 million in 2017, and the number is expected to reach nearly 2.1 billion by 2050 (United Nations 2018). While population aging affects nearly every country in the world, the pace of aging has been faster is less developed countries than in developed countries (He, Goodkind, & Kowal 2016). Demographic changes in fertility, mortality, and to a lesser extent migration, have had profound effects on the age-structure of many societies worldwide. These population trends in global aging require improved data and analyses to assist societies with social and economic shifts in social welfare and health care services, labor markets and retirement, technology, housing, transportation, and intergenerational relationships. With an increasingly larger share in the population of aging adults in virtually every country throughout the world, it is imperative that governments design innovative policies specifically aimed at public services to benefit aging individuals and societies. In our chapter we present an overview of important issues related to global trends in population aging. We organized this review according to five key areas: (1) demographic determinants of global aging; (2) measures and methods; (3) trajectories of population aging; (4) theoretical considerations; and (5) future research directions

The governance and performance of universities: evidence from Europe and the US

"We test the hypothesis that universities are more productive when they are both more autonomous and face more competition. Using survey data, we construct indices of university autonomy and competition for both Europe and the United States. We show that there are strong positive correlations between these indices and multiple measures of university output. To obtain causal evidence, we investigate exogenous shocks to US universities' expenditures over three decades. These shocks arise through the political appointment process, which we use to generate instrumental variables. We find that an exogenous increase in a university's expenditure generates more output, measured by either patents or publications, if the university is more autonomous and faces more competition. Exploiting variation over time in the 'stakes' of competitions for US federal research grants, we also find that universities generate more output for a given expenditure when research competitions are high stakes. We draw lessons, arguing that European universities could benefit from a combination of greater autonomy and greater accountability. Greater accountability might come through increased reliance on competitive grants, enhanced competition for students and faculty (promoted by reforms that increase mobility), and yardstick competitions (which often take the form of assessment exercises)." Copyright (c) CEPR, CES, MSH, 2010.

Visual impairment and eye care among Alaska native people

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of visual impairment, eye disease and eye care in the Alaska Native (AN) population, by demographic and socioeconomic factors. Methods: Population-based cross-sectional study of 3,793 AN adults aged 18&ndash;94 years enrolled in the Education and Research Towards Health (EARTH) Study from March 2004&ndash;March 2006. Data on self-reported visual impairment, cataract, glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and previous dilated eye examinations were collected using audio computer-assisted self-administered questionnaires. Results: The unadjusted prevalence of self-reported visual impairment was 8.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 7.9&ndash;9.7), cataract 5.9% (95% CI: 5.2&ndash;6.7), glaucoma 2.5% (95% CI: 2.0&ndash;3.0) and diabetic eye disease 1.3% (95% CI: 0.9&ndash;1.7). In all cases, age-sex adjusted prevalence estimates for the AN population were greater than available estimates for the general U.S. population. Prevalence of visual impairment and each eye disease increased with age (P &lt; 0.01). Additional factors associated with visual impairment were education and annual household income. Overall, 70.0% (95% CI: 68.5&ndash;71.6) of participants reported a dilated eye examination within the previous two years. Dilated eye examination within the previous two years was associated with increasing age (P &lt; 0.001). However, men and participants with lower formal education were less likely to report recent dilated eye examination. Among those with diabetes, only 67.7% (95% CI: 60.8&ndash;74.1) reported a dilated eye examination within the recommended previous one year. Conclusions: Self-reported visual impairment, cataract, glaucoma and diabetic eye disease are prevalent in the AN population. These data may be useful in healthcare planning and education programs.<br /