IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/popdev/v26y2000i4p643-689.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Population and Resources: An Exploration of Reproductive and Environmental Externalities

Author

Listed:
  • Partha Dasgupta

Abstract

This article identifies four types of social externalities associated with fertility behavior. Three are shown to be pronatalist in their effects. These three are exemplified by the way theories of economic growth treat fertility and natural resources, the way population growth and economic stress in poor countries are seen by environmental and resource economists, and the way development economists accommodate environmental stress in their analysis of poverty. It is shown that the fourth type of externality, in which children are regarded as an end in themselves, can even provide an invidious link between fertility decisions and the use of the local natural‐resource base among poor rural households in poor countries. The fourth type is used to develop a theory of fertility transitions in the contemporary world; the theory views such transitions as disequilibrium phenomena.

Suggested Citation

  • Partha Dasgupta, 2000. "Population and Resources: An Exploration of Reproductive and Environmental Externalities," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 26(4), pages 643-689, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:26:y:2000:i:4:p:643-689
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2000.00643.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2000.00643.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2000.00643.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Will Cavendish, 1999. "Poverty, inequality and environmental resources: quantitative analysis of rural households," CSAE Working Paper Series 1999-09, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    2. Jean Dreze & Mamta Murthi, 2000. "Fertility, Education and Development: Further Evidence from India," Working papers 76, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    3. Cochrane, S.H. & Farid, S.M., 1989. "Fertility In Sub-Saharan Africa - Analysis And Explanation," World Bank - Discussion Papers 43, World Bank.
    4. Robert Eastwood & Michael Lipton, 1999. "The impact of changes in human fertility on poverty," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 1-30.
    5. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, March.
    6. William Cavendish, 1998. "The complexity of the commons: environmental resource demands in rural Zimbabwe," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/1999-08, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    7. William Cavendish, 1999. "Poverty, inequality and environmental resources: quantitative analysis of rural households," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/1999-09, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    8. Richard A. Easterlin, 1980. "Population and Economic Change in Developing Countries," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number east80-1, March.
    9. W. Lutz & S. Scherbov, 1999. "Quantifying Vicious Circle Dynamics: The PDE Model for Population, Environment, Development and Agriculture in African Countries," Working Papers ir99049, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
    10. repec:ucp:bknber:9780226740867 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Richard Easterlin, 1980. "Introduction to "Population and Economic Change in Developing Countries"," NBER Chapters, in: Population and Economic Change in Developing Countries, pages 1-4, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sayef Bakari & Mohamed Mabrouki & Abdelhafidh Othmani, 2018. "The Six Linkages Between Foreign Direct Investment, Domestic Investment, Exports, Imports, Labor Force And Economic Growth: New Empirical And Policy Analysis From Nigeria," Journal of Smart Economic Growth, , vol. 3(1), pages 25-43, Juin.
    2. Tai-Hsin Huang & Zixiong Xie, 2013. "Population and economic growth: a simultaneous equation perspective," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(27), pages 3820-3826, September.
    3. Shi, Anqing, 2003. "The impact of population pressure on global carbon dioxide emissions, 1975-1996: evidence from pooled cross-country data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 29-42, February.
    4. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-477 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Kirui, Oliver K. & Mirzabaev, Alisher, 2016. "Cost of land degradation and improvement in Eastern Africa," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 249321, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    6. Patra, Nilanjan, 2008. "State-wise pattern of gender bias in child health in India," MPRA Paper 21435, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Jaeger, William K. & Kolpin, Van & Siegel, Ryan, 2023. "The environmental Kuznets curve reconsidered," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    8. Oliviero Carboni & Paolo Russu, 2015. "Assessing Regional Wellbeing in Italy: An Application of Malmquist–DEA and Self-organizing Map Neural Clustering," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 677-700, July.
    9. Ahlburg, Dennis & Lindh, Thomas, 2007. "Long-run income forecasting," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 533-538.
    10. Natalia A. Ekimova, 2025. "Modeling Demographic Growth in Russia: Factors, Mechanisms, Reserves," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 24(2), pages 386-414.
    11. repec:awi:wpaper:0427 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Mkadmi, Jamel Eddine & Bakari, Sayef & Msai, Achwak, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of Tax Policies on Economic Growth in Tunisia: New Empirical and Policy Analysis," MPRA Paper 109023, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Tsangyao Chang & Hsiao-Ping Chu & Frederick W. Deale & Rangan Gupta & Stephen M. Miller, 2017. "The relationship between population growth and standard-of-living growth over 1870–2013: evidence from a bootstrapped panel Granger causality test," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 44(1), pages 175-201, February.
    14. Guillermo Cruces & Andres Ham & Martin Tetaz, 2008. "Quality of Life in Buenos Aires Neighborhoods: Hedonic Price Regressions and the Life Satisfaction Approach," Research Department Publications 3260, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    15. Kirui, Oliver K., 2016. "Impact of land degradation on household poverty: evidence from a panel data simultaneous equation model," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246396, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    16. Iyer, Sriya & Velu, Chander, 2006. "Real options and demographic decisions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 39-58, June.
    17. Nandan Jha & Neena Banerjee, 2025. "Effects of diffusion and education on women’s fertility in India," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 1-48, June.
    18. Casari, Marco & Lisciandra, Maurizio & Tagliapietra, Claudio, 2019. "Property Rights, Marriage, and Fertility in the Italian Alps, 1790–1820," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 72-92.
    19. Iyer, S. & Weeks, M., 2009. "Social Interactions, Ethnicity and Fertility in Kenya," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0903, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    20. Javier A. Birchenall, 2016. "Population and development redux," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 627-656, April.
    21. Dionysia Lambiri & Bianca Biagi & Vicente Royuela, 2007. "Quality of Life in the Economic and Urban Economic Literature," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 1-25, October.
    22. repec:awi:wpaper:0428 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Tsangyao Chang & Hsiao-Ping Chu & Frederick W. Deale & Rangan Gupta & Stephen M. Miller, 2014. "The Relationship between Population Growth and Economic Growth Over 1870-2013: Evidence from a Bootstrapped Panel-Granger Causality Test," Working Papers 201431, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    24. Bhattacharya, Haimanti & Innes, Robert, 2005. "Bi-Directional Links Between Population Growth and the Environment: Evidence From India," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19404, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dasgupta, Partha, 2000. "Reproductive externalities and fertility behaviour," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(4-6), pages 619-644, May.
    2. Grant Miller, 2005. "Contraception as Development? New Evidence from Family Planning in Colombia," CID Working Papers 9, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    3. Mahesh Karra & Joshua Wilde, 2024. "Economic Foundations of Contraceptive Transitions: Theories and a Review of the Evidence," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 50(S2), pages 539-569, December.
    4. López-Feldman, Alejandro, 2014. "Shocks, Income and Wealth: Do They Affect the Extraction of Natural Resources by Rural Households?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 91-100.
    5. Babulo, Bedru & Muys, Bart & Nega, Fredu & Tollens, Eric & Nyssen, Jan & Deckers, Jozef & Mathijs, Erik, 2009. "The economic contribution of forest resource use to rural livelihoods in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 123-131, March.
    6. Buys, Piet & Chomitz, Ken & Dasgupta, Susmita & Deichmann, Uwe & Larsen, Bjorn & Meisner, Craig & Nygard, Jostein & Pandey, Kiran & Pinnoi, Nat & Wheeler, David, 2006. "The economics of decentralized poverty-environment programs: An application for Lao PDR," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 811-824, October.
    7. Baudin, Thomas, 2010. "A Role For Cultural Transmission In Fertility Transitions," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 454-481, September.
    8. Begazo Curie, Karin & Mertens, Kewan & Vranken, Liesbet, 2021. "Tenure regimes and remoteness: When does forest income reduce poverty and inequality? A case study from the Peruvian Amazon," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    9. William Lord & Peter Rangazas, 2006. "Fertility and development: the roles of schooling and family production," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 229-261, September.
    10. Bir Chhetri & Helle Larsen & Carsten Smith-Hall, 2015. "Environmental resources reduce income inequality and the prevalence, depth and severity of poverty in rural Nepal," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 513-530, June.
    11. Thomas Baudin, 2015. "Religion and fertility: The French connection," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(13), pages 397-420.
    12. Birner, Regina & Davis, Kristin E. & Pender, John L. & Nkonya, Ephraim M. & Anandajayasekeram, Ponniah & Ekboir, Javier & Mbabu, Adiel & Spielman, David J. & Horna, Daniela & Benin, Samuel & Cohen, Ma, 2006. "From "best practice" to "best fit": A framework for designing and analyzing pluralistic agricultural advisory services worldwide," FCND discussion papers 210, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Boukary OUEDRAOGO & Sylvie FERRARI, 2012. "Incidence of forest income in reducing poverty and inequalities:\r\nEvidence from forest dependent households in managed forests’ areas in Burkina Faso," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2012-28, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    14. Rodríguez Vignoli, Jorge, 2008. "Spatial distribution, internal migration and development in Latin America and the Caribbean," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
    15. Ntuli, Herbert & Mukong, Alfred Kechia & Kimengsi, Jude Ndzifon, 2022. "Institutions and environmental resource extraction within local communities in Mozambique," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    16. Sourav Kumar Das & Jyotish Prakash Basu, 2022. "Tribal livelihood vulnerability due to climate change: a study across tribes of Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(8), pages 1-23, August.
    17. Lipton, Michael & Vosti, Stephen A. & Witcover, Julie, 1994. "The impact of technical change in agriculture on human fertility: district-level evidence from India," EPTD discussion papers 5, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    18. George Simmons & Celeste Smucker & Stan Bernstein & Eric Jensen, 1982. "Post-neonatal mortality in Rural India: Implications of an economic model," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 19(3), pages 371-389, August.
    19. Ballet, Jérôme & Marchand, Lucile & Pelenc, Jérôme & Vos, Robin, 2018. "Capabilities, Identity, Aspirations and Ecosystem Services: An Integrated Framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 21-28.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:26:y:2000:i:4:p:643-689. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0098-7921 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.