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Early literacy achievements, population density and the transition to modern growth

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Author Info
BOUCEKKINE, Raouf
DE LA CROIX, David
PEETERS, Dominique

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Abstract

The transition from economic stagnation to sustained growth is often modelled thanks to "population-induced" productivity improvements, which are assumed rather than derived from primary assumptions. In this paper the effect of population on productivity is derived from optimal behavior. More precisely, both the number and location of education facilities are chosen optimally by municipalities. Individuals determine their education investment depending on the distance to the nearest school, and also on technical progress and longevity. In this setting, higher population density enables the set-up costs of additionalschools to be covered, opening the possibility to reach higher educational levels. Using counterfactual experiments we find that one third of the rise in literacy can be directly attributed to the effect of density, while one sixth is linked to higher longevity and one half to technical progress. Moreover, the effect of population density in the model is consistent with the available evidence for England, where it is shown that schools were established at a high rate over the period 1540-1620.

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Paper provided by Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE) in its series CORE Discussion Papers with number 2005026.

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Date of creation: 01 Jan 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cor:louvco:2005026

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Related research
Keywords: human capital; population density; education investment; school location; technical progress;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
O41 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
R12 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends and Forecasts

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Raouf Boucekkine & David de la Croix & Omar Licandro, . "vintage human capital, demographic trends and endogenous growth," Working Papers 2000-02, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Oded Galor & Omer Moav, 2002. "Natural Selection And The Origin Of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(4), pages 1133-1191, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Oded Galor, 2004. "From Stagnation to Growth: Unified Growth Theory," GE, Growth, Math methods 0409003, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Nils-Petter Lagerlöf, 2006. "The Galor-Weil Model Revisited: A Quantitative Exercise," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 9(1), pages 116-142, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Ciccone, Antonio, 2002. "Agglomeration effects in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 213-227, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Raouf Boucekkine & David de la Croix & Omar Licandro, 2003. "Early Mortality Declines at the Dawn of Modern Growth," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 105(3), pages 401-418, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Gary S. Becker & Edward L. Glaeser & Kevin M. Murphy, 1999. "Population and Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 145-149, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Thomas J. Holmes, 2005. "The Location of Sales Offices and the Attraction of Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(3), pages 551-581, June.
  10. Nils-Petter Lagerl–f, 2003. "From Malthus to Modern Growth: Can Epidemics Explain the Three Regimes?," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(2), pages 755-777, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Bartel, Ann P & Lichtenberg, Frank R, 1987. "The Comparative Advantage of Educated Workers in Implementing New Technology," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(1), pages 1-11, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Kelley, Allen C. & Schmidt, Robert M., 1995. "Aggregate Population and Economic Growth Correlations: The Role of the Components of Demographic Change," Working Papers 95-37, Duke University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Gary D. Hansen & Edward C. Prescott, 2002. "Malthus to Solow," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 1205-1217, September. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Matthias Doepke, 2004. "Accounting for Fertility Decline During the Transition to Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 347-383, 09. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Lubomira Anastassova, 2006. "Productivity Differences and Agglomeration Across Districts of Great Britain," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp289, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economic Institute, Prague. [Downloadable!]
  16. Nicolini, Esteban A., 2004. "Mortality, interest rates, investment, and agricultural production in 18th century England," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 130-155, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Hazan, Moshe & Zoabi, Hosny, 2005. "Does Longevity Cause Growth?," CEPR Discussion Papers 4931, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Azomahou, Theophile & Mishra, Tapas, 2009. "Stochastic environmental effects, demographic variation, and economic growth," UNU-MERIT Working Paper Series 016, United Nations University, Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology. [Downloadable!]
  2. Joerg Baten & Jan Zanden, 2008. "Book production and the onset of modern economic growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 217-235, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Raouf, BOUCEKKINE & David, DE LA CROIX & Dominique, PEETERS, 2007. "Disentangling the demographic determinants of the English take-off : 1530-1860," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2007019, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Oded Galor, 2009. "2008 Lawrence R. Klein Lecture –Comparative Economic Development: Insights from Unified Growth Theory," Working Papers 2009-10, Brown University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. DE LA CROIX, David & LINDH, Thomas & MALMBERG, Bo, 2006. "Growth and longevity from the industrial revolution to the future of an aging society," CORE Discussion Papers 2006064, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE). [Downloadable!]
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  6. Raouf, BOUCEKKINE & Bity, DIENE & Theophile, AZOMAHOU, 2006. "The Growth economics of epidemics," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2006021, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques. [Downloadable!]
  7. Holger Strulik & Jacob Weisdorf, 2008. "Population, food, and knowledge: a simple unified growth theory," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 195-216, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Guido Cozzi & Silvia Galli, 2009. "Upstream Innovation Protection: Common Law Evolution and the Dynamics of Wage Inequality," Working Papers 2009_20, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow. [Downloadable!]
  9. Frateschi, Carlofilippo & Lazzaro, Elisabetta & Palma Martos, Luis, 2009. "A Comparative Econometric Analysis of Museum Attendance by Locals and Foreigners: The Cases of Padua and Seville/Un análisis econométrico comparado de las asistencias a los museos por parte del púb," Estudios de Economía Aplicada, Estudios de Economía Aplicada, vol. 27, pages 177-198, Abril. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. David, DE LA CROIX, 2008. "Adult longevity and economic take-off : from Malthus to Ben-Porath," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2008031, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Azomahou, Théophile & Boucekkine, Raouf & Diene, Bity, 2008. "A Closer Look at the Relationship Between Life Expectancy and Economic Growth," UNU-MERIT Working Paper Series 027, United Nations University, Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Michael Bar & Oksana Leukhina, . "Demographic Transition and Industrial Revolution: A Macroeconomic Investigation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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