This paper analyzes the long-term economic determinants of the demographic transition using a large panel of countries since 1870. A simple theoretical framework accounts for the possibly nonmonotonic variations of fertility in the course of economic development. As predicted by unified growth...

Less than desirable indigenous birth rates in Western Europe have generated interest toward examining the question of natalism — an organised state initiative to manage and promote reproduction, child rearing, health, as well as related neo-traditional cultural values — from a comparative...

In the last two decades Turkish fertility rates have been steadily decreasing. This paper is an attempt to examine the effects of a change in fertility rates on population structure, labor supply, and employment in relation to physical capital stock for the next four decades. This study also...

This paper develops a unied growth model capturing issues of endogenous economic growth, fertility, and technological progress considering the effects of geographical conditions to interpret the long transition from Malthusian stagnation, through demographic transition to modern sustained...

This study uses micro data and an OLG model to show that general equilibrium forces are critical for understanding the relationship between aggregate fertility and household savings. First, we document that parents perceive children as an important source of old-age support and that in partial...

The baby-boom and subsequent baby-bust have shaped much of the history of the second half of the 20th century; yet it is still largely unclear what caused them. This paper presents a new unified explanation of the fertility Boom-Bust that links the latter to the Great Depression and the...

Portugal is characterized by a huge decline in the birth rate, which is a phenomenon that requires - or rather, should already have requested - some kind of intervention, given the consequent costs, including economic, poli- tical and social ones. Despite the evident downward trend in the birth...

Three profound changes - the mortality, fertility and contraception transitions - characterized the Victorian era in England. Economists, following Becker (1960), focus on the first two and underplay the third by assuming couples can achieve their fertility target at no cost. The historical...

The Australian baby bonus, offering parents $3,000 on the birth of a child, was announced on May 11 2004. The focus of this paper is to analyse the response to the policy across maternal age levels in order to separate policy effects from prevailing demographic trends such as recuperation of...

Ever since the very beginning of the Journal of Economics and Statistics, population economics has featured prominently in the Journal. Fertility naturally plays an important role in population economics. Its size has decreased significantly from the 1900s. Long time-series regarding fertility...