Understanding the Correlation between Alzheimer’s Disease Polygenic Risk, Wealth, and the Composition of Wealth Holdings

Abstract

The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. At least one co-author has disclosed a financial relationship of potential relevance for this research. Further information is available online at http://www.nber.org/papers/w25526.ack NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

Effect of early‐stage Alzheimer's disease on household financial outcomes

“…This component of the value of early screening for and identification of AD is important for patients and payers to understand and consider when deciding whether to participate in or offer coverage for early testing, respectively. Patients will also want to consider other aspects of the utility (or disutility) of early screening and identification of AD, such as the potentially negative psychological effects of receiving bad health news, the potential for discrimination based on test results, and, on the positive side, the value of reduced uncertainty for future planning (Hall, Viney, & Haas, 1998, Lliffe & Manthorpe, 2004, Billings et al, 1992, Hsu & Willis, 2013, Grosse, Wordswort, & Payne, 2008, Shin et al, 2019.…”

“…Previous research finds that cognitive skills are related to wealth and wealth composition (McArdle, Smith, & Willis, 2011) and that cognitive ability affects the type of investments that individuals make (with higher cognitive ability associated with a greater share of assets in stocks) and investment returns (Agarwal & Mazumder, 2013;Grinblatt, Keloharju, & Linnainmaa, 2012). A recent study by Shin, Lillard, and Bhattacharya (2019) sits at the intersection of these two literatures, examining how the genetic risk of developing AD relates to the type of assets in which individuals hold their savings. The authors find that as people genetically predisposed to AD age, they save more in assets that require less active management.…”

What Can Economics Say About Alzheimer's Disease?

“…However, Pak and Babiarz (2018) conclude that there is no causal effect of cognition on portfolio choice based on an analysis that exploits variation in cognition driven by seasonal affective disorder. In a rare example of AD-specific research on this topic, Shin et al (2019) find that AD risk is associated with increased holding of "hands off" assets like CDs.…”

“…Replication is a key problem in these studies (Beauchamp et al, 2011). Shin et al (2019) find a positive correlation between the PGS for AD and the share of wealth held in "hands off" assets like certificates of deposit, an example identifying biological mechanisms that influence economic behavior. Linnér and Koellinger (2020) find that the PGS for AD, parental lifespan, and smoking are associated with survival and may be better predictors than some conventional actuarial risk factors; they also find that greater genetic mortality risk is associated with a reduced probability of long-term care purchase.…”

Genetic risk scores of disease and mortality capture differences in longevity, economic behavior, and insurance outcomes

“…We are aware of only a single recent study that tested for an association between polygenic scores for disease and economic behavior. Specifically, Shin, Lillard, and Bhattacharya (2019) tested whether a polygenic score for Alzheimer's disease was associated with wealth composition in the HRS, and they found that greater genetic risk was associated with less wealth.…”