Although death occurs with certainty, the time of death is uncertain. In this paper we build on this conceptualization and show that, although life ends at some point in time, human life can be meaningfully conceptualized as a strive for immortality that is never reached. We consider an...

The rational addiction model is usually tested by estimating a linear second-order difference Euler equation, which may produce unreliable estimates. We show that a linear first-order difference equation is a better alternative. This empirical specification is appropriate under the reasonable...

We propose a model of aging and health deficit accumulation model with an infinite time horizon and a steady state of constant health. The time of death is uncertain and endogenous to lifestyle and health behavior. This setup can be conceptualized as a strive for immortality that is never...