ABSTRACT
Global population aging promises to be one of the major social issues of the twenty-first century and has important implications for the way societies define retirement. Institutionalist labor economics has the potential to contribute a great deal to the policy discussion concerning older workers and the changing meaning of retirement. This chapter presents a brief overview of the key trends in population aging and retirement practices, and the concerns surrounding these trends, which lie behind the growing research and policy interest in increasing work among older people in industrialized nations. It also presents the concept of active aging as an alternative to traditional economic approaches to older worker policies, highlighting active aging discussions of pensions, employment, citizenship, and health. The chapter highlights similarities between institutionalist and active aging approaches, identifies core values in institutionalist labor economics, and discusses the relevance of these institutionalist core values for the development of older worker policies.
