Arbeitspapier
Life expectancy and economic growth: the role of the demographic transition
In this paper we investigate the causal effect of life expectancy on economic growth by explicitly accounting for the role of the demographic transition. In addition to focusing on issues of empirical identification, this paper emphasizes the role of the econometric specification. We present a simple theory of the economic and demographic transition where individuals' education and fertility decisions depend on their life expectancy. The theory predicts that before the demographic transition improvements in life expectancy primarily increase population. Improvements in life expectancy do, however, reduce population growth and foster human capital accumulation after the onset of the demographic transition. This implies that the effect of life expectancy on population, human capital and income per capita is not the same before and after the demographic transition. Moreover, a sufficiently high life expectancy is ultimately the trigger of the transition to sustained income growth. We provide evidence supporting these predictions using data on exogenous mortality reductions in the context of the epidemiological revolution.
- Language
-
Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
-
Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 4160
- Classification
-
Wirtschaft
General Aggregative Models: General
Demographic Economics: General
Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: General, International, or Comparative
Economic Development: General
Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity: General
- Subject
-
Life expectancy
demographic transition
epidemiological revolution
heterogeneous treatment effects
Sterblichkeit
Wirtschaftswachstum
Demographischer Übergang
Bevölkerungsökonomie
Theorie
Welt
- Event
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
-
Cervellati, Matteo
Sunde, Uwe
- Event
-
Veröffentlichung
- (who)
-
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
- (where)
-
Bonn
- (when)
-
2009
- Handle
- URN
-
urn:nbn:de:101:1-20090605176
- Last update
-
15.09.2030, 12:44 PM CEST
Data provider
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Cervellati, Matteo
- Sunde, Uwe
- Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Time of origin
- 2009
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