The impact of population aging on business cycles volatility: International evidence

Silvana Dantas Guimarães and Gisele Ferreira Tiryaki

The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 2020, vol. 17, issue C

Abstract: The effects of population aging on short-run macroeconomic performance are theoretically ambiguous. Increased longevity may compromise public budgets’ sustainability due to the growing expenditures with health services and social security. It may also affect labor market dynamics and influence savings’ behavior, leading to lower equilibrium interest rates and more restricted monetary policy interventions’ space. Yet, consumers and entrepreneurs become more risk-averse as life expectancy grows, which may reduce the volatility of consumption and investment. This paper aims at verifying if population aging promotes or hinders macroeconomic stability. Using data from 146 economies between 1996 and 2016, static and dynamic panel data models were estimated controlling for other factors that affect short-run macroeconomic performance. The results indicate that countries with an aging population exhibit lower consumption and investment volatility, but output volatility seems to increase as the population grows older likely due to the labor market responses to aging and greater international trade volatility.

Keywords: Business cycles; Population aging; Demographics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E32 J11 J14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joecag:v:17:y:2020:i:c:s2212828x20300505

DOI: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2020.100285

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