This paper explores the evolution of child labor, fertility, and human capital in the process of development. In early stages of development the economy is in a development trap where child labor is abundant, fertility is high and output per capita is low. Technological progress, however,...

This chapter examines the process of development from an epoch of Malthusian stagnation to a state of sustained economic growth. The analysis focuses on recently advanced unified growth theories that capture the intricate evolution of income per capita, technology, and population over the course...

Instrumental variables (IV) estimates of the effect of fertility on female labor supply have only been able to identify the causal effect of second and higher-parity children. This study uses exogenous variation in fertility caused by the Chinese lunar calendar to identify the effect of the...

In this paper we consider an overlapping generations model with endogenous fertility and two-sided altruism and show the limitations of applying commonly used open loop Nash equilibrium in characterizing equilibrium transfers from parents to children in the form of bequest, and transfers from...

Though they are related, the price, cost, consumption and value of children are not the same. This paper explores two aspects of the relationship between these concepts. Even if we restrict attention to the domain of commodity consumption, the cost of children is not the same as children's...

This paper examines the two-way relationship between birth interval and child survival and compares the behaviour of households in the Indian and Pakistani provinces of Punjab. Birth interval and child survival are modelled here as correlated hazard processes, allowing for mother- specific...

This chapter examines the process of development from an epoch of Malthusian stagnation to a state of sustained economic growth. The analysis focuses on recently advanced unified growth theories that capture the intricate evolution of income per capita, technology, and population over the entire...

In the presence of two-sided altruism, i.e., when parents and children care about each other’s utility, increases in parental income need not always lead to increases in schooling and to decreases in child labor. This surprising result derives from the systematic way capital market constraints...

The income contribution of child work is undoubtedly a key factor influencing child work and schooling decisions. Yet, few studies have attempted to directly measure this contribution. This is particularly the case for work performed on the household farm, as is the case for the vast majority of...

The demographic transition that swept the world in the course of the last century has been identified as one of the prime forces in the transition from stagnation to growth. The unprecedented increase in population growth during the early stages of industrialization was ultimately reversed and...