Variety, Fertility, and Long-term Economic Growth

Jianchoun Dou ()
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Jianchoun Dou: Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China

No 2021020, LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES from Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)

Abstract: This study develops a novel mechanism to explain the long-term economic and demographic evolution from the Malthusian stage to the modern stage. In the model, the progress in human history is characterized by not only technological advances but also the expansion of variety of goods. The technological progress, which enhances productivity, is in favor of population growth. Meanwhile, the growth of variety that expands consumption sets tends to reduce fertility. The change of fertility finally depends on the relative growth rate of these two kinds of innovations. With the help of some hypotheses that correspond to the stylized facts in the history of science and technology, the model predicts an evolutional pattern of technology and fertility that is consistent with unified growth theory.

Keywords: Variety; Fertility; Economic growth; Innovations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J11 J13 N3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-07-18
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-dem, nep-evo, nep-gro, nep-his and nep-isf
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctl:louvir:2021020

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