Endogenous fertility and growth in a model with old age support |
| |
Authors: | Rupa Chakrabarti |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Economics, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02181-8260, USA (e-mail: rchakrabarti@wellesley.edu), US |
| |
Abstract: | Summary. This paper examines the interrelationship between capital accumulation, fertility, and growth by introducing an endogenous
fertility decision into Diamond's (1965) neoclassical growth model. Under the assumptions that children provide old age support
and that individuals incur a variable time cost of raising children, it investigates the potential for cyclical fluctuations
in the capital-labor ratio and fertility, as well as for development trap phenomena to be observed. It is shown that when
capital and labor are highly substitutable in production, there is a unique steady state equilibrium, and either damped or
undamped oscillations in fertility and the capital-labor ratio may occur. However, when the elasticity of substitution between
capital and labor is less than one, two steady state equilibria may exist; one with a high capital-labor ratio and a high
rate of population growth, and the other with a lower capital-labor ratio as well as a lower population growth rate. The former
is a saddle, while the latter may be either a source or a sink. In the latter case development traps are possible.
Received: June 16, 1997; revised version: December 18, 1997 |
| |
Keywords: | and Phrases: Endogenous fertility Old age support Growth |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|