The pessimistic and optimistic view of population growth.

Abstract

Economists are divided over the impact of labor growth on economic growth. According to the pessimistic view, population growth could result in a negative impact on economic growth because an increase in labor could lower the economy’s steady state and the labor productivity.On the other hand, the optimists would argue that a rapid population growth quickens the pace at which the new technology can be incorporated into production, and provides the opposite consequence. The panel data of 109 countries from 1947 to 1997 are used to analyze the impact of population growth on GDP growth. The main findings provide a strong support for the optimists. The results also suggest that,population or labor force in developed countries seem to do a better job in bringing about the economic growth of a country than those in less-developed ones.