CEPAR International Conference 2023

CEPAR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE:

Population Ageing: Causes, Consequences and Responses

3-5 JULY 2023, John Niland Scientia Building, UNSW Sydney/Bedegal Country, Sydney, Australia

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Hosted by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), this 3-day conference brought together academics, policymakers, and practitioners to share the latest research and policy and industry perspectives on the dynamics of the ageing demographic.

Scientific Advisory Committee

Chair: Hazel Bateman,  CEPAR, UNSW Business School

Kaarin Anstey, CEPAR, UNSW Science

PROGRAM: 

• The complete program is available here. View the presentation slides here (by clicking on the weblinks in the program).
• Download the program booklet here, which includes all abstracts and speaker bios.

The conference program included:

• a number of concurrent sessions on population ageing featuring around 60 papers from national and international presenters;
• four keynote presentations by internationally renowned experts who delivered thought-provoking keynote presentations on various aspects of population ageing and its consequences:

1. The Role of Private and Public Transfers to Sustain the Generational Economy: An Application of National Transfer Accounts (NTA) in an Ageing Europe, presented by Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz (Vienna University of Technology, Austrian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract: The talk gives an overview of the generational economy in European countries as measured in the National Transfer accounts project and rooted in the concept of the economic life cycle. Characteristics of the life course in modern societies are long periods of economic dependency in childhood and old age when consumption exceeds own production. To which extent and by whom these phases of dependency are financed will ultimately determine the economic wellbeing of distinct generations and the sustainability of public finances in ageing populations. In Europe, public pensions play an important role for the elderly dependent population, aggravating the challenge of ageing populations. Considerable cross-country differences exist in the organization of private transfers towards children, especially in the role of men and women. When discussing the social system and reform options of the welfare state in context of demographic change, it is important to consider public and private transfers in tandem and study their functions in different countries. The consideration of public transfers together with private transfers is also indispensable in understanding economic vulnerability and inequality across generations. In this talk we show that the diversity in the degree of ageing and the organization of the generational economy in Europe provide important insights about successful strategies to adapt to an ageing population.

Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz is Professor of Mathematical Economics at TU Wien, director at the Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences and research associate at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria. After her study of Technical Mathematics at TU Wien, she attended a postgraduate study at the University of Chicago in Economics and a postdoctorate at the Demography Department of the University of California, Berkley. From 1998 to 2003 she was head of an independent research group on “Population, Economy and Environment” at the MPI for Demography, Rostock. Her main areas of research are in the economic consequences of population and individual ageing, demographic change and long run economic growth and the interrelationship between population, economy and environment. She is full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, member of Leopoldina (Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften) and member of Academia Europaea.

2. Financial Decision Making in Older Age, presented by Duke Han (University of Southern California)

Abstract: Decision making refers to the ability to consider competing alternatives and make an optimal choice. Older adults face many critical decisions regarding financial matters which could have a profound impact upon independence and wellbeing, with far-reaching consequences for family members, caretakers, and communities. Relatedly, scam, fraud, and financial exploitation of older adults is a devastating and widespread societal problem resulting in billions of dollars lost annually. There are multiple considerations for what may make certain older adults poorer decision makers and consequently more vulnerable to scam, fraud, and financial exploitation. Age-associated pathological changes in the brain are well documented, suggesting the suboptimal functioning of specific neural systems may contribute to declining cognition and poorer decision making in older age. Medical conditions, psychological symptoms, and interpersonal relationship dynamics may also impact decision making in older age. Recent compelling work has implicated poor financial decision making as an early marker of Alzheimer’s Disease dementia. Understanding impaired financial decision making in older age is therefore a significant public health issue with important public policy implications; however, the causal factors, contextual circumstances, and consequences are poorly understood. This presentation will provide an overview of our program of research, which leverages neuropsychological, neuroimaging, behavioral economics, qualitative, and other multidisciplinary empirical approaches to better understand financial decision making and financial exploitation vulnerability in older age.

Duke Han, PhD, is a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology in Clinical Neuropsychology, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the National Academy of Neuropsychology, Director of the Neuropsychology Division in Family Medicine, and a tenured Professor of Family Medicine, Neurology, Psychology, and Gerontology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a specialization in Neuroscience from Duke University, and his PhD Doctorate Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. He received training in clinical neuropsychology and experimental neuroimaging techniques through various programs of Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital. He continued his clinical neuropsychology and neuroimaging activities during his clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship years at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and the San Diego VA Healthcare System. He maintains an active research collaboration with the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center (RADC) in Chicago where he was formerly a tenured faculty member. Dr. Han is interested in the factors that affect cognition and decision making in aging. He also has special interests in leveraging novel empirical approaches to better understand these factors, and in the advocacy of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion considerations in aging and neuroscience research. He was the recipient of the prestigious Paul B. Beeson fellowship, which is considered the premiere career development award of the National Institute on Aging (NIA). He is the primary investigator or co-investigator on multiple research grants extramurally funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and private foundations. He is actively involved in the peer-review of aging and Alzheimer’s Disease research grants, and has previously served as the Chair of the NIA Clinical and Translational Research of Aging review committee (NIA-T) and the Neuroscience of Aging review committee (NIA-N). Dr. Han is a founding governance committee member of the Global Council on Brain Health, an international independent science collaborative convened by AARP that is tasked with offering the aging public the best advice about brain health. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and the American Psychological Association (APA) Presidential Task Force on Neuropsychological Test Norming in Diverse Populations. Dr. Han has served as an oral examiner for the clinical neuropsychology board certification process for the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN), and he currently holds multiple service or mentorship roles in the International Neuropsychological Society (INS), the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN), the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN), and the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (Division 40) of the APA. His work has been featured in multiple media outlets, including Reuters, CBS, PBS, Forbes, Fox Business News, and U.S. News and World Report.

3. Is Retirement a Curse or a Blessing? Work and Retirement Pathways Matter, presented by Mo Wang (University of Florida)

Abstract: This presentation aims to explore the crucial research question of how retirement affects individual well-being. It will delve into an extensive body of research comprising longitudinal and nationally representative data, which have been utilized to provide insights into this inquiry. By drawing upon accumulated research findings, the presentation will demonstrate how the scientific conceptualization and understanding of work and retirement pathways has evolved over time, particularly regarding their influence on the retirement adjustment process. Moreover, the presentation will shed light on various factors operating at macro, meso, and micro levels that are exogenous to work and retirement pathways. These factors play a significant role in shaping individuals' experiences during retirement. To conclude, the presentation will highlight several compelling avenues of future research for the attendees to consider.

Dr. Mo Wang is a University Distinguished Professor and the LanzillottiMcKethan Eminent Scholar Chair at the Warrington College of Business at University of Florida. He is also the Associate Dean for Research and Strategic Initiatives, Department Chair of the Management Department, and the Director of Human Resource Research Center at University of Florida. To date, Mo has published more than 185 peer-reviewed journal articles, 30 book chapters, and 5 books. He is known for his research on retirement and older worker employment, occupational health psychology, expatriate and newcomer adjustment, leadership and team processes, and advanced quantitative methodologies. He received numerous awards for his research in these areas, including Academy of Management HR Division Scholarly Achievement Award (2008), Careers Division Best Paper Award (2009), European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus Scholarship for Work, Organizational, and Personnel Psychology (2009), Emerald Group’s Outstanding Author Contribution Awards (2013 and 2014), Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology’s William A. Owens Scholarly Achievement Award (2016), and Journal of Management Scholarly Impact Award (2017). He also received Cummings Scholarly Achievement Award from Academy of Management’s OB Division (2017), Early Career Contribution/Achievement Awards from American Psychological Association (2013), Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2013), Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (2012), Academy of Management’s HR Division (2011) and Research Methods Division (2011), and Society for Occupational Health Psychology (2009). Mo’s research is well recognized and regarded by major federal funding agencies. His research program has been supported with more than $5M from NIH, NSF, CDC, and various other research foundations and agencies. As a true scientist-practitioner, Mo is also committed to providing students, workers, employers, and policy makers with evidence-based knowledge. His work has been reported extensively by the popular media, such as NPR, BBC, Associated Press, WSJ, NYTimes, HBR, and the Washington Post. In 2015, he conducted a Congressional Debriefing on retirement for U.S. Congress. He also served as an invited speaker for White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team twice, giving talks on retirement (2015) and older worker job search (2016). Mo is an elected Foreign Member of Academia Europaea (M.A.E) and a Fellow of AOM, APA, APS, and SIOP. He was the Editor of The Oxford Handbook of Retirement and an Associate Editor for Journal of Applied Psychology (2010-2020) and currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief for Work, Aging and Retirement. He was the President of Society for Occupational Health Psychology (2014-2015) and the Director for the Science of Organizations Program at National Science Foundation (2014-2016). He currently serves the Presidential Track for Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (2021-2024).

4. To Have or Not to Have Long-Term Care Insurance: The Economic Evidence, presented by Norma Coe (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract: While most countries have adopted universal health insurance coverage, long-term care, or social care, insurance is much less common, with on-going debates about what services should be covered, who should be covered, and who should provide this insurance. This talk will review the economic evidence of the costs and benefits of having long-term care insurance, with a focus on spill-over effects to beneficiaries, family members, and caregivers, both paid and unpaid.

Norma B. Coe, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an economist whose research focuses on identifying causal effects of policies that directly and indirectly impact health, human behavior, health care access, and health care utilization. Norma is the Director of the Policy and Economics of Disability, Aging, and Long Term Care (PEDAL) lab and Co-Director of the Population Aging Research Center (PARC). In her research, Dr. Coe merges the rigor of economic thinking and empirical analysis with the practical health services skills of measurement and knowledge of the health policy context to answer pressing questions for policymakers and other stakeholders on how we can improve aging in America.

• three panel sessions featuring experts drawn from academe, government, industry, the community on the following topics:
  • migration policy for Australia;
  • macroeconomic risk and demographic change;
  • feminising and ageing workforce and the implications for research, policy and practice

Video recording of the panel on migration policy for Australia in the context of population ageing, with Peter McDonald (CEPAR, University of Melbourne), Abul Rizvi (former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration), and Trent Wiltshire (Immigration and Housing Expert, The Grattan Institute):

Video recording of the panel on macroeconomic risk and demographic change, with Mike Keane (CEPAR, UNSW Sydney), Ayhan Kose (Vice President, World Bank), Adam Triggs (Partner, Mandala, Non-resident Fellow, Brookings Institution and the ANU Crawford School), and Warwick McKibbin (CEPAR Chief Investigator, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAMA), Australian National University):

Video recording of the panel on feminising and ageing workforce, with Marian Baird (CEPAR, University of Sydney), Virpi Timonen (Professor of Social and Health Services Research and Leadership, Professor, Social Policy, University of Helsinki), Tim Johnson (Assistant Secretary - Care and Support Economy Taskforce, Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet), Myra Hamilton (CEPAR Principal Research Fellow, Associate Professor, University of Sydney), and Alexandra Heron (CEPAR Associate Investigator, University of Sydney):

 

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Enquiries: 

For event and media enquiries, please email cepar@unsw.edu.au.

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The CEPAR team is happy to receive phone calls via the National Relay Service. TTY users, phone 133 677, then ask for 02 9385 7359. Speak and Listen users, phone 1300 555 727 then ask for 02 9385 7359. Internet relay users, visit relayservice.gov.au, then ask for 02 9385 7359.