The Economic and Demographic Transition, Mortality, and Comparative Development

56 Pages Posted: 16 Feb 2013

See all articles by Matteo Cervellati

Matteo Cervellati

University of Bologna - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Instituto de Análisis Económic (IAE) Barcelona

Uwe Sunde

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)

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Abstract

We propose a unified growth theory to investigate the mechanics generating the economic and demographic transition, and the role of mortality differences for comparative development. The framework can replicate the quantitative patterns in historical time series data and in contemporaneous cross-country panel data, including the bi-modal distribution of the endogenous variables across countries. The results suggest that differences in extrinsic mortality might explain a substantial part of the observed differences in the timing of the take-off across countries and the worldwide density distribution of the main variables of interest.

Keywords: economic and demographic transition, adult mortality, child mortality, quantitative analysis, unified growth model, heterogeneous human capital, comparative development, development traps

JEL Classification: E10, J10, J13, N30, O10, O40

Suggested Citation

Cervellati, Matteo and Sunde, Uwe, The Economic and Demographic Transition, Mortality, and Comparative Development. IZA Discussion Paper No. 7199, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2219124 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2219124

Matteo Cervellati (Contact Author)

University of Bologna - Department of Economics ( email )

Strada Maggiore 45
Bologna, 40125
Italy
+39-2092605 (Phone)
+39-2092664 (Fax)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.iza.org/

Instituto de Análisis Económic (IAE) Barcelona

Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193
Spain

Uwe Sunde

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) ( email )

Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1
Munich, DE Bavaria 80539
Germany

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