Douglas A. Wolf
Gerald B.
Cramer Professor of Aging Studies
Associate
Director, Aging
Studies Program, Center for Policy
Research
Research Interests and Activities
Wolf's research areas include several topics in the well-being and life course-patterns of the older population, such as household composition and parent-child coresidence; the dynamics of nursing home use; use of community-based long-term care resources; and the spatial distribution of kin and migration choices. A primary theme of Wolf's research is the role of family and kinship patterns in shaping the choices facing older people and their immediate kin with respect to living and care arrangements. In much of his research, Wolf has also focused on the impacts of fiscal and programmatic variations (such as state-level Medicaid program features and state and local taxation and expenditure variables) on behavioral outcomes. Wolf is also active in the development and application of demographic methodology, particularly in the area of microsimulation. He is currently developing a model structure, and computer implementation of the model, with which to project the distribution of pre- and post-retirement income, kinship patterns, and disability profiles of the older population through the year 2025. Wolf's research has been continuously supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging since 1985.
Current Research Projects
- Dynamic Microsimulation of Elders' Health and Well-Being (PI)
- International Network of Researchers on Elder Care (INREC)
- Elder Care and Living Arrangements in Three Arrangements in Three Western Nations (PI)
- Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, (Research Associate)
