Demographic Transition, Human Capital And Growth

Abstract

This paper firstly deals with the evolution of the literature on fertility and mortality growth rates and secondly discusses the extent to which both fertility and mortality affect the population growth rate as an endogenous variable. We develop an economic growth model using an infinite horizon setup in which economic development and health status influence the population growth rate. Mortality depends on health expenditure and fertility is endogenously determined. Each generation of family is linked altruistically and adults within each household take into account the welfare and resources of their actual and future descendants. The current generation maximizes utility and incorporates a budget constraint over an infinite horizon. Their decisions determine not also the evolution of the population growth rate but even the evolution of the per capita income.