NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. COMMISSION ON BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES AND EDUCATION. COMMITTEE ON POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHY
Population growth and economic development : policy questions
Slower population growth would benefit economic development in most developing countries, according to this study, which assumes a policy-driven fertility decline and measures the population-economic relationship using mainly per capita indicators of economic welfare.
1970
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Abstract
Individual chapters discuss whether slower population growth will: (1) increase income growth by increasing the availability of exhaustible and renewable resources; (2) alleviate pollution and environmental degradation; (3) increase output and consumption by raising capital per worker; (4) increase levels of schooling and health; (5) decrease inequality in income distribution; (6) help absorb workers into the modern economic sector and alleviate problems of urban growth; (7) lower income via reduced technological innovation and economies of scale in production and infrastructure. Also discussed are whether a couple"s fertility behavior imposes costs on society at large. A final section synthesizes the main findings of the preceding analyses, discusses the importance of environmental and institutional contexts in slowing population growth, and outlines implications for family planning policy. Ten pages of references (1954-85) are provided.
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