The Problem of Population and Growth : A Review of the Literature from Malthus to Contemporary Models of Endogenous Population and Endogenous Growth

This paper deals with the evolution of the literature on the problem of population and growth from the classical period to the recent literature on endogenous growth and development. The 'problem' concerns two distinct issues: 1. how to explain the observed covariation of the levels and rates of growth of per capita income and population size over time and space, and 2. how to improve the human condition represented by these variables through an accommodating social policy. The evolution of the literature we survey is reflected by the progressive treatment of key variables as endogenous, rather than exogenous to the growth process. It is also reflected by a shift from the historical concern about population explosion, and its implications for growth, to the more recent concern about the association between growth and population implosion in many developed countries