TY  - JOUR
AU  - Fogel,Robert W.
TI  - Economic Growth, Population Theory, and Physiology: The Bearing of Long-Term Processes on the Making of Economic Policy
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 4638
PY  - 1994
Y2  - September 1994
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4638
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4638.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Robert W. Fogel
Director,  Center for Population Economics
University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Suite 367
Chicago, IL  60637
Tel: 773/702-7709
Fax: 773/702-2901
E-Mail: rwf@cpe.uchicago.edu
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 1994-02-01
AB  - This paper sketches a theory of the secular decline in morbidity and mortality that takes account of changes in human physiology since 1700.  The synergism between technological and physiological improvements has produced a form of human evolution, much more rapid than natural selection, which is still ongoing in both OECD and developing countries.  Thermodynamic and physiological aspects of economic growth are defined and their impact on growth rates is assessed.  Implications of this theory for population forecasting, measurement of national income, demand for leisure, pension policies, and for the demand for health care are considered.
ER  -