Economic Growth, Population Theory, and Physiology: The Bearing of Long-Term Processes on the Making of Economic Policy

Robert Fogel

No 4638, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper sketches a theory of the secular decline in morbidity and mortality that takes account of changes in human physiology since 1700. The synergism between technological and physiological improvements has produced a form of human evolution, much more rapid than natural selection, which is still ongoing in both OECD and developing countries. Thermodynamic and physiological aspects of economic growth are defined and their impact on growth rates is assessed. Implications of this theory for population forecasting, measurement of national income, demand for leisure, pension policies, and for the demand for health care are considered.

Date: 1994-02
Note: DAE EFG EH
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (566)

Published as The American Economic Review, Vol. 84, no. 3, pp. 369-395, (June 1994).

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.nber.org/papers/w4638.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Economic Growth, Population Theory, and Physiology: The Bearing of Long-Term Processes on the Making of Economic Policy (1994)
Working Paper: Economic Growth, Population Theory, and Physiology: The Bearing of Long-Term Processes on the Making of Economic Policy (1993)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:4638

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.nber.org/papers/w4638

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().