A glass jar full of coins and plant growing through it with some coins and plant leaves.

Mortality Heterogeneity and the Distributional Consequences of Mandatory Annuitization

Working Paper by Guan Gong and Anthony Webb

June 1, 2006

Abstract Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we calculate the relationship between socio-economic status and a utility based measure of annuity value. We find considerable variation between groups once we take account of not only socio-economic differences in mortality, but also pre-annuitized wealth and longevity risk pooling in marriage. Using HRS data…

Stethoscope with medicare form with parts list.

Can Heterogeneity of Populations Explain Differences in Mortality?

Working Paper by James W. Vaupel, Roland Rau, Carlo Giovanni Camarda, and Kristin G. von Kistowski

March 28, 2006

Abstract We investigate whether heterogeneity can explain the differences in mortality between the United States and a more homogeneous country, i.e. Japan. The background of the analysis is the growing gap between life-expectancy in the United States and the world record leader since the 1980s. This development is mirrored in the decelerated improvements made against…