This paper aims at providing a simple economic framework to address a somewhat neglected question of economic policy, namely the optimal share of investments in medical R&D in total public spending. In or- der to capture the long-run impact of tax-financed medical R&D on the growth rate, we...

The purpose of the model developed in the paper is to provide a simple economic framework to address an economic policy question, namely the optimal size of military R&D investment within total public expenditures. To capture the long-run impact of military R&D on the growth rate of the economy,...

We revisit the seminal paper on endogenous fertility by Barro and Becker (1989) taking into account households' heterogeneity in terms of capital endowments, mortality differential and cost per surviving child. Focusing on an endogenous growth version, we show at first that there exists a unique...

On the one hand, the adoption of polluting technologies can enhance the factor productivity; on the other hand, pollution lowers the stock of human capital by weakening physical and mental performances, and short-ening the life expectancy at the end. To capture the impact of pollution on...

Few endogenous growth models are able to encompass unbalanced transitional dynamics. In Barro (1990) public spending is a productive externality and growth is only regular. The second best tax rate equals the public spending return. We provide a monetary version of Barro (1990), where short-run...