The demographic transition in the Sahel region has been slower than that in the rest of the world. Although child mortality rates have declined in recent decades, they are still higher in West Africa than in other regions. Furthermore, the fertility decline has progressed very slowly, with some...

These two addresses to the National Leaders' Seminar on Population and Development in Nairobi and to the International Population Conference in Mexico City in 1984 concern the urgent and important problem of fast population growth. Rapid population growth slows development, with the poor being...

This paper assesses the effects of knowledge on economic growth. By using an array of indicators, each of which represents an aspect of knowledge, as independent variables in cross-section regressions that span 92 countries for the period 1960 to 2000, they show that knowledge is a significant...

The Global Monitoring Report 2015/2016: Development Goals in an Era of Demographic Change details the progress toward the global development goals and examines the impact of demographic change on achieving these goals. Part I examines global development progress, the unfinished development...

Changing population age structures are shaping the trajectories of development in many countries, bringing opportunities and challenges. While aging has been a matter of concern for upper-middle and high-income economies, rapid population growth is set to continue in the poorest countries over...

A large literature documents the positive influence of a city's skill structure on its rate of economic growth. By contrast, the effect of a city's age structure on its economic growth has been a hitherto largely neglected area of research. This paper hypothesizes that cities with more...

Given that public spending will have a positive impact on GDP if the benefits exceed the marginal cost of public funds, the present paper deals with measuring costs and benefits of public spending. The paper discusses one cost seldom considered in the literature and in policy debates, namely,...

This paper proposes a quantitative model of firm dynamics with endogenous innovation to study growth acceleration episodes triggered by reforms. The authors find that reforms removing barriers to firm entry lead to persistent growth in TFP and declining average firm size, as in the experience of...

The first part of this paper reviews the literature on the relation between finance and growth. The second part of the paper reviews the literature on the historical and policy determinants of financial development. Governments play a central role in shaping the operation of financial systems...

Are natural resources a blessing or a curse? The authors present a model in which natural resources have a positive effect on the level of income and a negative effect on its growth rate. The positive and permanent effect on income implies a welfare gain. There is a growth effect stemming from a...