American Economic Review Vol. 90 No. 4 2000
Population, Technology, and Growth: From Malthusian Stagnation to the Demographic Transition and Beyond
Abstract
This paper develops a unified growth model that captures the historical evolution of population, technology, and output. It encompasses the endogenous transition between three regimes that have characterized economic development. The economy evolves from a Malthusian regime, where technological progress is slow and population growth prevents any sustained rise in income per capita, into a Post-Malthusian regime, where technological progress rises and population growth absorbs only part of output growth. Ultimately, a demographic transition reverses the positive relationship between income and population growth, and the economy enters a Modern Growth regime with reduced population growth and sustained income growth.
- DOI
- 10.1257/aer.90.4.806
- Volume
- 90
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 806-828
- Language
- en
- Sources
- bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref