We use an extended Barro-Becker model of endogenous fertility, in which parents are heterogeneous in their labor productivity, to study the efficient degree of consumption inequality in the long run. In our environment a utilitarian planner allows for consumption inequality even when labor...

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In this chapter we revisit the relationship between income and fertility. There is overwhelming empirical evidence that fertility is negatively related to income in most countries at most times. Several theories have been proposed in the literature to explain this somewhat puzzling fact. The...

Demographers have long emphasized decreased mortality and `economic development' as the main contributors generating the demographic transition (DT). In economics, the Barro-Becker (BB) model of fertility choice, though simple and intuitive, has not been successful at reproducing changes in...