This Element provides an analysis of social protection from an economic perspective. It describes the design of social protection programs, assesses the efficiency and performance of social protection programs, analyzes the relative merits of social and private insurance, and focuses on the implications of asymmetric information.
Our societies are witnessing a steady increase in longevity. This demographic evolution is accompanied by some convergence across countries, but substantial longevity inequalities persist within nations across income classes. This Element aims to survey some crucial implications of changing longevity on the design of optimal public policy.