Population density, education spread and economic growth

José Pedro Pontes

No 2026/0417, Working Papers REM from ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa

Abstract: We undertake a theoretical analysis of the spread of college education and economic growth, leading to three main findings. First, by assuming that schooling is related with a productive activity that is not land-based, we draw the boundary of areas with formal education. We conclude that these areas expand when either population increases in each point or when technical progress primarily a??ects the modern productive sector. Second, we characterise the evolution of schooling in a structurally stable economy and its impact on growth in a manner consistent with the empirical evidence. In particular, we find that the expansion of schooling in a structurally stable spatial economy promotes economic growth, albeit at a diminishing rate. Finally, we provide a plausible explanation the apparent paradox of “education without economic development”, which arises when the positive e??ect of a rapidly growing labour force on the education system is partially o??set by a technological regression in the industrial sector.

Keywords: Education spread; economic growth; population density; education without development; space-time analysis. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 O15 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
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