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East africa in the Malthusian trap? A statistical analysis of financial, economic, and demographic indicators

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  • Andrey Korotayev
  • Julia Zinkina

Abstract

A statistical analysis of financial, economic, and demographic indicators performed by the authors demonstrates (1) that the main countries of East Africa (Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania) have not escaped the Malthusian Trap yet; (2) that this countries are not likely to follow the "North African path" and to achieve this escape before they achieve serious successes in their fertility transition; (3) that East Africa is unlikely to achieve this escape if it does not follow the "Bangladeshi path" and does not achieve really substantial fertility declines in the foreseeable future, which would imply the introduction of compulsory universal secondary education, serious family planning programs of the Rwandan type, and the rise of legal age of marriage with parental consent. Such measures should of course be accompanied by the substantial increases in the agricultural labor productivity and the decline of the percentage of population employed in agriculture.

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  • Andrey Korotayev & Julia Zinkina, 2015. "East africa in the Malthusian trap? A statistical analysis of financial, economic, and demographic indicators," Papers 1503.08441, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:1503.08441
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    Cited by:

    1. da Silva Francisco, António A., 2017. "‘Gerontogrowth’ and population ageing in Africa and the Global AgeWatch Index," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 78-89.

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