Essays on the Economics of Fertility, Population Growth and Public Intervention in a Developing Country : The Philippines

The issue of population growth and economic development is now close to a generation old. Population policy in most developing countries is, however, only slightly over a decade in duration and its impact is just beginning to be felt. Like an adolescent that is experiencing growing pains, the population program calls for renewed guidance in its future course. There is a need to clarify certain ambiguities among policymakers, scholars and the public in general about the relationships between population growth and socioeconomic development. Likewise, there is a need to review the population program in terms of the underlying rationale of public intervention, as well as in terms of its performance during the past decade with a view to identifying what might be fruitful directions in the 1980s. The essays in this volume are designed to contribute to an enlightened discussion of issues surrounding the population and development concern in the Philippines and more generally in developing countries.