Different countries, including Lithuania, meet economic and social challenges and changes in the sector of social security. The anticipation of the problems and taking actions for the prevention of their after-effects, which may occur in future, is especially important, taking in to the account the projection of population ageing. This work analysis the challenges for social and labour market policy, arising from the ageing of the population. Main purpose of the work is to unfold the point of view of different age groups, women and men, about the ageing process of the population and the challenges of this process for state social and labour market, as well as discovering the opinion of the questioned groups of the ways for solving the problems, caused by the process. Therefore, a survey for the implementation of this purpose has been performed. 100 respondents in the age of 30-69 age have been questioned during this survey. The data of this survey do not reflect the opinion of all Lithuanian inhabitants about the challenges, changes and problems, arising due to the population ageing. This is just a tendency for seeing some particular consistent patterns. Essence and reasons of population ageing, world wide and Lithuanian ageing tendencies, state policy on elderly people are being reviewed in this work. Currently have the rates of population ageing due to the reduced birth rate and high emigration level in Lithuania signally quickened. Responding to the challenges... [to full text]

Chapter One: When is Free Trade Good for the Environment? This paper provides the conditions under which free trade reduces the emission of pollution. In this paper, we construct a computable general equilibrium model of free trade and environment. Using data from different countries with different characteristics with respect to the stringency of their environmental and trade policies and factor endowments, we simulate a reduction on import tariffs and measure the impact on the volume of emission. Our main findings show that, for a combination of relatively high capital to labour ratio and low level of protectionism, if a country exports the polluting good then, trade liberalization increases the level of emission. Whereas if the country exports the clean good, then the effect of an import tariff reduction on the emission level is positively related to the variation in the producer’s price of the polluting good. Furthermore, we find that under a relatively low level of capital endowment for a country that exports the polluting good, the impact of free trade on the environment depends on the degree of protectionism. // Chapter Two: Ageing and the Environment in an Overlapping Generations Model. We empirically investigate the impact of population ageing on the environment using an overlapping generations model. We decompose the impact into scale, composition, and cohort effects. Using data from the Canadian economy, we simulate the impact of demographic shock on the volume of emission. Population ageing results mostly from a baby bust that follows a baby boom. The demographic transition is characterized by an increase then a decline in the population growth rate. Under the first part of the transition, we find that the scale effect generates more pollution. However, if young generations are more concerned about the environment, an increase in the population growth rate may improve the environment via the composition effects. On the other hand, a decline in the population growth rate (population ageing) creates the opposite results. We further find that cohort effect is positively related to the environment when there is a higher degree of awareness towards a cleaner environment. By comparing scale to both composition and cohort effects, we find that scale dominates both effects, so population ageing causes the level of pollution to fall. // Chapter Three: Does Population Ageing in the North Leads to More Pollution in the South? We construct a two-country model: a rich country (the North) with relatively high level of capital endowment and stringent environmental policy and a poor country (the South) with less stringent environmental policy. Both countries produce a clean and a polluting good and both have access to an exogenous abatement technology. The paper has three main foci. First, it provides an empirical test for the pollution haven and the factor endowment hypotheses. Second, it introduces the issue of population ageing in the North into the question of trade liberalisation and the environment. Finally, it investigates the impact of demographic and trade shocks on the level of emissions in both countries. Results from simulations suggest that an increase in the population growth rate increases the volume of emission in the long run. However, population-ageing generates an opposite effect. In the short term, the scale dominates the composition effect. Empirical evidences show that the level of emission is positively related to the size of population. With respect to trade, pollution increases in the North and falls in the South. Also, we find that demographic changes dominate trade liberalization. Finally, worldwide free trade is bad for the environment, but its effect is marginal.

Chapter One: When is Free Trade Good for the Environment? This paper provides the conditions under which free trade reduces the emission of pollution. In this paper, we construct a computable general equilibrium model of free trade and environment. Using data from different countries with different characteristics with respect to the stringency of their environmental and trade policies and factor endowments, we simulate a reduction on import tariffs and measure the impact on the volume of emission. Our main findings show that, for a combination of relatively high capital to labour ratio and low level of protectionism, if a country exports the polluting good then, trade liberalization increases the level of emission. Whereas if the country exports the clean good, then the effect of an import tariff reduction on the emission level is positively related to the variation in the producer’s price of the polluting good. Furthermore, we find that under a relatively low level of capital endowment for a country that exports the polluting good, the impact of free trade on the environment depends on the degree of protectionism. // Chapter Two: Ageing and the Environment in an Overlapping Generations Model. We empirically investigate the impact of population ageing on the environment using an overlapping generations model. We decompose the impact into scale, composition, and cohort effects. Using data from the Canadian economy, we simulate the impact of demographic shock on the volume of emission. Population ageing results mostly from a baby bust that follows a baby boom. The demographic transition is characterized by an increase then a decline in the population growth rate. Under the first part of the transition, we find that the scale effect generates more pollution. However, if young generations are more concerned about the environment, an increase in the population growth rate may improve the environment via the composition effects. On the other hand, a decline in the population growth rate (population ageing) creates the opposite results. We further find that cohort effect is positively related to the environment when there is a higher degree of awareness towards a cleaner environment. By comparing scale to both composition and cohort effects, we find that scale dominates both effects, so population ageing causes the level of pollution to fall. // Chapter Three: Does Population Ageing in the North Leads to More Pollution in the South? We construct a two-country model: a rich country (the North) with relatively high level of capital endowment and stringent environmental policy and a poor country (the South) with less stringent environmental policy. Both countries produce a clean and a polluting good and both have access to an exogenous abatement technology. The paper has three main foci. First, it provides an empirical test for the pollution haven and the factor endowment hypotheses. Second, it introduces the issue of population ageing in the North into the question of trade liberalisation and the environment. Finally, it investigates the impact of demographic and trade shocks on the level of emissions in both countries. Results from simulations suggest that an increase in the population growth rate increases the volume of emission in the long run. However, population-ageing generates an opposite effect. In the short term, the scale dominates the composition effect. Empirical evidences show that the level of emission is positively related to the size of population. With respect to trade, pollution increases in the North and falls in the South. Also, we find that demographic changes dominate trade liberalization. Finally, worldwide free trade is bad for the environment, but its effect is marginal.

Chapter One: When is Free Trade Good for the Environment? This paper provides the conditions under which free trade reduces the emission of pollution. In this paper, we construct a computable general equilibrium model of free trade and environment. Using data from different countries with different characteristics with respect to the stringency of their environmental and trade policies and factor endowments, we simulate a reduction on import tariffs and measure the impact on the volume of emission. Our main findings show that, for a combination of relatively high capital to labour ratio and low level of protectionism, if a country exports the polluting good then, trade liberalization increases the level of emission. Whereas if the country exports the clean good, then the effect of an import tariff reduction on the emission level is positively related to the variation in the producer’s price of the polluting good. Furthermore, we find that under a relatively low level of capital endowment for a country that exports the polluting good, the impact of free trade on the environment depends on the degree of protectionism. // Chapter Two: Ageing and the Environment in an Overlapping Generations Model. We empirically investigate the impact of population ageing on the environment using an overlapping generations model. We decompose the impact into scale, composition, and cohort effects. Using data from the Canadian economy, we simulate the impact of demographic shock on the volume of emission. Population ageing results mostly from a baby bust that follows a baby boom. The demographic transition is characterized by an increase then a decline in the population growth rate. Under the first part of the transition, we find that the scale effect generates more pollution. However, if young generations are more concerned about the environment, an increase in the population growth rate may improve the environment via the composition effects. On the other hand, a decline in the population growth rate (population ageing) creates the opposite results. We further find that cohort effect is positively related to the environment when there is a higher degree of awareness towards a cleaner environment. By comparing scale to both composition and cohort effects, we find that scale dominates both effects, so population ageing causes the level of pollution to fall. // Chapter Three: Does Population Ageing in the North Leads to More Pollution in the South? We construct a two-country model: a rich country (the North) with relatively high level of capital endowment and stringent environmental policy and a poor country (the South) with less stringent environmental policy. Both countries produce a clean and a polluting good and both have access to an exogenous abatement technology. The paper has three main foci. First, it provides an empirical test for the pollution haven and the factor endowment hypotheses. Second, it introduces the issue of population ageing in the North into the question of trade liberalisation and the environment. Finally, it investigates the impact of demographic and trade shocks on the level of emissions in both countries. Results from simulations suggest that an increase in the population growth rate increases the volume of emission in the long run. However, population-ageing generates an opposite effect. In the short term, the scale dominates the composition effect. Empirical evidences show that the level of emission is positively related to the size of population. With respect to trade, pollution increases in the North and falls in the South. Also, we find that demographic changes dominate trade liberalization. Finally, worldwide free trade is bad for the environment, but its effect is marginal.

Chapter One: When is Free Trade Good for the Environment? This paper provides the conditions under which free trade reduces the emission of pollution. In this paper, we construct a computable general equilibrium model of free trade and environment. Using data from different countries with different characteristics with respect to the stringency of their environmental and trade policies and factor endowments, we simulate a reduction on import tariffs and measure the impact on the volume of emission. Our main findings show that, for a combination of relatively high capital to labour ratio and low level of protectionism, if a country exports the polluting good then, trade liberalization increases the level of emission. Whereas if the country exports the clean good, then the effect of an import tariff reduction on the emission level is positively related to the variation in the producer’s price of the polluting good. Furthermore, we find that under a relatively low level of capital endowment for a country that exports the polluting good, the impact of free trade on the environment depends on the degree of protectionism. // Chapter Two: Ageing and the Environment in an Overlapping Generations Model. We empirically investigate the impact of population ageing on the environment using an overlapping generations model. We decompose the impact into scale, composition, and cohort effects. Using data from the Canadian economy, we simulate the impact of demographic shock on the volume of emission. Population ageing results mostly from a baby bust that follows a baby boom. The demographic transition is characterized by an increase then a decline in the population growth rate. Under the first part of the transition, we find that the scale effect generates more pollution. However, if young generations are more concerned about the environment, an increase in the population growth rate may improve the environment via the composition effects. On the other hand, a decline in the population growth rate (population ageing) creates the opposite results. We further find that cohort effect is positively related to the environment when there is a higher degree of awareness towards a cleaner environment. By comparing scale to both composition and cohort effects, we find that scale dominates both effects, so population ageing causes the level of pollution to fall. // Chapter Three: Does Population Ageing in the North Leads to More Pollution in the South? We construct a two-country model: a rich country (the North) with relatively high level of capital endowment and stringent environmental policy and a poor country (the South) with less stringent environmental policy. Both countries produce a clean and a polluting good and both have access to an exogenous abatement technology. The paper has three main foci. First, it provides an empirical test for the pollution haven and the factor endowment hypotheses. Second, it introduces the issue of population ageing in the North into the question of trade liberalisation and the environment. Finally, it investigates the impact of demographic and trade shocks on the level of emissions in both countries. Results from simulations suggest that an increase in the population growth rate increases the volume of emission in the long run. However, population-ageing generates an opposite effect. In the short term, the scale dominates the composition effect. Empirical evidences show that the level of emission is positively related to the size of population. With respect to trade, pollution increases in the North and falls in the South. Also, we find that demographic changes dominate trade liberalization. Finally, worldwide free trade is bad for the environment, but its effect is marginal.

The well-known problems of decreasing birth rates and population ageing represent a major challenge for the Austrian pension system. It is expected that the group of pensioners will grow steadily in the future, while the proportion of people that support them - the taxpayers - will shrink. In this regard, microsimulation provides a valuable tool to identify the impact of various policy measures. With microsimulation, it is not only possible to predict cross-sectional data (e.g., the distribution of age groups in 2050), but also to simulate lifecourses of people, providing longitudinal outcomes. The demographics module is the first in a series of modules that are part of a microsimulation prototype. This prototype is being developed in order to predict the long-term evolution of Employment Biographies in Austria.

This thesis examines the effect of population ageing on macroeconomic aggregates. The author´s objective is to verify, whether there exists any relationship of the population ageing factors and the GDP growth rate, social expenditures growth rate and the consumption growth rate. Econometric models are based on theoretical specifications of Faruqee´s life-cycle model and Prettner´s R&D model with overlapping generations. The degree of economic development is also taken into account. Furthermore, the author modified the R&D model by incorporation of the poverty indicator and its application on available datasets. The research is focused on five European countries in 1995 - 2013. The Ordinary Least Squares method is used to gain estimated results in regression analyses. The author managed to prove an existing relationship between the old age dependency ratio and the social expenditures in all countries except Switzerland. The impact of the population ageing factor on the consumption growth rate turned out to be significant in all of those countries. Substantial fluctuations are shown only in Bulgaria and in the Czech Republic. The GDP growth rate seems to be influenced by ageing factor in the Czech Republic and in the Ukraine alone. The research has also shown that developing countries respond more dramatically to changes in the population structure distribution, while the poverty indicator plays an important role only in the Ukraine.

Swedish municipalities have very different age structures. Migration from rural to urban areas has led to a polarisation of Swedish regions, where urban centres have an inflow of young and skilled workers while rural regions are ageing and falling behind economically. This thesis examines what effect population ageing has on output of Swedish municipalities and how that effect differs between urban and rural municipalities. By classifying all 290 municipalities as either rural or urban and dividing the population of each municipality into six age cohorts, a clear negative relation is found between the share of people aged 65 to 79 and gross regional product per capita in both types of municipalities. Surprisingly, this negative relation is not found for the share of people above 80. This group is positively related to output in urban municipalities, but not in rural ones. Overall, population ageing seems to be negative for economic growth in both urban and rural municipalities.

China is entering a new historical era that has as its demographic hallmark an ageing population. The fact that China is ageing before it becomes a modernised, wealthy country, presents serious challenges, one of the most direct and important of which relates to support for older members of society. This thesis concerns the way in which different factors affect intergenerational transfers from adult children to their old parents, with particular focus on living arrangements and parental income. The core question this thesis aims to address is: If public transfers increase, would this crowd out private transfers? The results of the estimated association between living arrangements and intergenerational transfers are also used to improve the robustness of the test of crowding-out effect. This study is based on empirical analyses of two waves of nationally representative datasets, covering adult individuals aged 60 and over from 20 provinces in urban and rural China. Living arrangements are vital to intergenerational transfers and welfare in old age, especially in China where the family-based support mechanism by which the young cared for the old was traditionally through coresidence. The descriptive statistics show that though coresidence is still the predominant living arrangement in rural areas, older Chinese people are increasingly less likely to co-reside with children. Such changes in living arrangements, however, do not leave older people isolated over time. Investigation of the determinants of older people’s coresidence decisions shows that older people with more financial or instrumental needs are more likely to live with children. Analysis of the determinants of parents’ living distance from children finds that in urban areas, old parents with higher pensions are more likely to live far away from children, although insignificant effects are found for rural samples. Finally, this study finds weak evidence that parents living far from children receive more intergenerational transfers. Overall, it has been found that family support, including intergenerational monetary transfers, is still prevalent in China; particularly in rural areas. Although a pattern of declining intergenerational transfers began to emerge during the period between 2000 and 2006, the family unit, and traditional family support, appear likely to remain an essential pillar of security in old age. Through the use of a variety of quantitative methodologies this thesis is able to provide robust estimates of how the increase in public programmes is influencing private transfers in China. Analysis of the factors that determine the incidence of receipt of transfers from children suggests that intergenerational transfers in China tend to target old parents that are in greater financial need. Moreover, the analysis of determinants of the size of transfer suggests that although altruism and exchange motives co-exist, the exchange motive dominates inter-generational transfers in urban China. This study does not find statistically significant estimates of transfer derivatives for older people in rural areas. The emerging pattern of support for older people indicates the pursuit of a new balance between formal and informal support. This thesis argues that a gradual increase in public transfers will not crowd out private transfers, and, in cities, may actually strengthen private transfers.

In the past, Chinese normative values deprived daughters of education, choice and autonomy, relegating them to a dependent domestic role within a rigid family hierarchy. This is no longer the norm. Today, Chinese daughters are widely educated and many are working outside the home, becoming financial assets to their families. Despite this, gendered expectations concerning filial obligation have not abated, and perhaps surprisingly given their modern lifestyles and financial contributions, Chinese daughters continue to accept this responsibility, including caregiving for ageing parents. The aim of this thesis is to explore the nature of the current caregiving paradigm between Chinese daughters, their parents and parents-in-law. It seeks to understand why Chinese daughters continue to undertake filial obligation when they are no longer dependent on the family; how they manage the practical discharge of filial obligation; and the ways in which traditional filial obligation have shifted. In furtherance of this exploration, in 2011 and 2012, 58 Chinese women and 6 Filipina domestic helpers were interviewed in Hong Kong and Singapore. Thematic analysis was performed on the transcribed data. Symbolic interactionism, caregiving motivation models, and Hochschild's (1983) theory of emotion management provided the conceptual and theoretical framework for the research. Drawing from the data, a support and care typology was developed reflecting the varying levels of daughters' filial support and their motivations for providing this support. Among these respondents, the core belief in "duty" has not fundamentally changed from that of their parents' generation. However, feelings of affection and gratitude, the strength of traditional or contemporary norms, and one’s self-image together with emotion work, moderated the duration and quality of care daughters were willing to provide. These factors may also determine whether caregiving is outsourced to foreign domestic helpers, or whether parents and in-laws are placed in nursing homes, and the nature of care provided thereafter.