Beschreibung:
As zero population growth rates have existed for about 30 years in many EU countries, one wonders whether this is optimal in these countries, considering different consumer preferences and different worker wages. In this paper, we construct a framework to examine this issue, in particular incorporating both eldercare and immigration. Our theoretical and empirical analyses show that the zero population growth rates are optimal, the choice of optimal eldercare hours and the optimal population growth rate are separated, and the quality of eldercare is not so crucial, which matches the realities in some EU countries. However, actual eldercare hours are affected by the long-term spending on care of each country