NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH

The Role of Fertility and Population in Economic Growth: Empirical ResultsFrom Aggregate Cross-National Data

James A. Brander, Steve Dowrick

NBER Working Paper No. 4270*
Issued in February 1993
NBER Program(s):   EFG

Two recently improved sets of cross-country panel data are combined in order

to re-examine the effects of population growth and fertility on economic

growth. Using a 107 country panel data set covering 1960-85, we find that

high birth rates appear to reduce economic growth through investment effects

and possibly through "capital dilution", although classic resource dilution is not

evident in the data. Most significantly, however, birth rate declines have a

strong medium-term positive impact on per capita income growth through

labour supply or "dependency" effects.

*Published: Journal of Population Economics, (February 1994)

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