Is population growth good or bad for economic development? (Part 2)

Activity: Other activity typesMedia coverage or participation

Description

In our previous post we described the shifting views of economists and demographers regarding the relationship between population growth and economic development. In short, rapid population growth in developing countries was thought to be a problem in the 1950s and 1960s, irrelevant (or even positive) in the 1970s and 1980s, and again an obstacle to robust economic growth from the mid-1990s up until today. Moreover, these changing views were very much in line with the evidence available for each period. How can we explain this?
Period2015
Held atLondon School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom

Keywords

  • demography
  • demographic transition
  • economic growth
  • economic development
  • economic history

Research Groups and Themes

  • Cabot Institute for the Environment
  • development
  • demography