The European demographic transition
The European demographic transition
This paper investigates the factors that shaped the demographic transition in a number of European countries (Sweden, England, and France) since the mid 18th century. The analytical framework is a version of the neoclassical growth model with dynastic preferences calibrated to match the Swedish experience. This setup is studied quantitatively to asses the contribution of various factors to the explanation of the observed demographic patterns, both over time and across countries. The factors considered are mortality changes, technological progress, and the evolution of the cost of children. The analysis suggests that the contribution of observed mortality rates and technology is only partial. A substantial part of the demographic-transition facts must be attributed to unobservable variation in the cost of children, both over time and across countries
altruism, growth, demographic transition, mortality, fertility
University of Southampton
Mateos-Planas, Xavier
444f69bb-2ab3-4f56-be17-3f286f7700da
2000
Mateos-Planas, Xavier
444f69bb-2ab3-4f56-be17-3f286f7700da
Mateos-Planas, Xavier
(2000)
The European demographic transition
(Discussion Papers in Economics and Econometrics, 31)
Southampton, UK.
University of Southampton
52pp.
Record type:
Monograph
(Discussion Paper)
Abstract
This paper investigates the factors that shaped the demographic transition in a number of European countries (Sweden, England, and France) since the mid 18th century. The analytical framework is a version of the neoclassical growth model with dynastic preferences calibrated to match the Swedish experience. This setup is studied quantitatively to asses the contribution of various factors to the explanation of the observed demographic patterns, both over time and across countries. The factors considered are mortality changes, technological progress, and the evolution of the cost of children. The analysis suggests that the contribution of observed mortality rates and technology is only partial. A substantial part of the demographic-transition facts must be attributed to unobservable variation in the cost of children, both over time and across countries
More information
Published date: 2000
Keywords:
altruism, growth, demographic transition, mortality, fertility
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Local EPrints ID: 33129
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/33129
PURE UUID: 77b29c3b-7d2f-4d92-9e0a-027507a33eb0
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Date deposited: 19 Jul 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 07:42
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Contributors
Author:
Xavier Mateos-Planas
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