The US Demographic Transition

Jeremy Greenwood () and Ananth Seshadri ()

No 487, RCER Working Papers from University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER)

Abstract: Between 1800 and 1940 the U.S. went through a dramatic demographic transition. In 1800 the average woman had 7 children, and 94 percent of the population lived in rural areas. By 1940 the average woman birthed just 2 kids, and only 43 percent of populace lived in the country. The question is: What accounted for this shift in the demographic landscape? The answer given here is that technological progress in agriculture and manufacturing explains these facts.

Keywords: fertility; technological progress; agriculture; manufacturing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E1 J1 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-dge
Date: 2002-01
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Related works:
Working Paper: The U.S. demographic transition (2001)
Working Paper: The U.S. demographic transition (2002)
Journal Article: The U.S. Demographic Transition (2002)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:roc:rocher:487

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