Demographic Change and Economic Growth in Asia

David Bloom, David Canning () and Pia N. Malaney

CID Working Papers from Center for International Development at Harvard University

Abstract: This paper examines the links between demographic change and economic growth in Asia during 1965-90. We show that the overall rate of population growth had little effect on economic growth, but that changes in life expectancy, age structure, and population density have had a significant impact on growth rates. We also find strong evidence of feedback from higher income to population change via lower fertility, though a significant component of the demographic changes appears to have been exogenous. Our results suggest that the demographic transition can act both as a catalyst and as an accelerator mechanism, and that demographic effects can explain most of East Asia’s economic "miracle". East Asia benefited from a "virtuous spiral" of income growth and fertility decline, while South Asia seems to remain caught in a low-level population-income trap.

JEL-codes: J10 O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999-05
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Working Paper: Demographic Change and Economic Growth in Asia (2008)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wop:cidhav:15

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