The Problem of Population and Growth: A Review of the Literature from Malthus to Contemporary Models of Endogenous Population and Endogenous Growth

38 Pages Posted: 7 Feb 2007

See all articles by Isaac Ehrlich

Isaac Ehrlich

State University of New York at Buffalo - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Chicago - University of Chicago Press; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Francis T. Lui

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Abstract

This paper deals with the evolution of the literature on the problem of population and growth from the classical period to the recent literature on endogenous growth and development. The 'problem' concerns two distinct issues: 1. how to explain the observed covariation of the levels and rates of growth of per capita income and population size over time and space, and 2. how to improve the human condition represented by these variables through an accommodating social policy. The evolution of the literature we survey is reflected by the progressive treatment of key variables as endogenous, rather than exogenous to the growth process. It is also reflected by a shift from the historical concern about population explosion, and its implications for growth, to the more recent concern about the association between growth and population implosion in many developed countries.

Keywords: Economic growth & development, Population, Fertility, Longevity, Human Capital

JEL Classification: O10, O40, J11, J13, J24

Suggested Citation

Ehrlich, Isaac and Lui, Francis Tingming, The Problem of Population and Growth: A Review of the Literature from Malthus to Contemporary Models of Endogenous Population and Endogenous Growth. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 205-242, January 1997, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=961458

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Francis Tingming Lui

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ( email )

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