Aging in Asia: Introduction to Symposium

• Author: Peter J. Morgan,Charles Yuji Horioka,Guanghua Wan,Yoko Niimi
• Published date: 01 August 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12545
• Date: 01 August 2018

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Aging in Asia: Introduction to Symposium

Charles Yuji Horioka

1,4

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Peter J. Morgan

2

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Yoko Niimi

1,5

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Guanghua Wan

3

1

Asian Growth Research Institute,

Kitakyushu, Japan

2

Asian Development Bank Institute,

Tokyo, Japan

3

Fudan University, Shanghai, China

4

National Bureau of Economic Research,

Cambridge, United States, and Institute

of Social and Economic Research, Osaka

University, Osaka, Japan

5

Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Correspondence

Charles Yuji Horioka, Asian Growth

Research Institute, 11-4 Otemachi,

Kokurakita, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka

803-0814, Japan.

Email: horioka@agi.or.jp

Abstract

Population aging (an increase in the share of the elderly

in total population) is occurring in many, if not most,

countries in the world, including those in Asia. Both

economists and policymakers warn that population aging

can have many deleterious effects on a country's econ-

omy including a decline in its saving rate, the emergence

of a labor shortage, a deterioration in government

finances owing to increased spending on old‐age related

programs, and reduced innovation and productivity

growth. It is therefore imperative for countries to prepare

themselves for the advent of an aged society. The emerg-

ing and developing countries in Asia are no exception,

with the region generally lacking adequate systems in

such areas as long‐term care, public pensions, and health

insurance. Against this background, an international

workshop on “Aging in Asia”was held in Kitakyushu

City, Japan, on November 15 to 16, 2016. The workshop

was jointly sponsored by the Asian Development Bank

Institute and the Asian Growth Research Institute and

was organized by Charles Yuji Horioka, Peter J. Morgan,

Yoko Niimi, and Guanghua Wan. This special issue of

the Review includes nine papers presented at this work-

shop plus one paper that was not presented there but was

written by one of the workshop participants. All of these

papers underwent the usual rigorous refereeing process of

this Review.

DOI: 10.1111/rode.12545

Rev Dev Econ. 2018;22:879–884. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rode © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

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