This paper argues that the introduction of compulsory schooling in early industrialization promoted the growth process that eventually led to a vicious cycle of population aging and negative pressure on education policy. In the early phases of industrialization, public education was undesirable...

This research theoretically analyzes the role of irreversible fertility decisions in economic growth in the presence of idiosyncratic ability shocks after childbirth. It argues that the irreversibility constraint delays the growth process by distorting the resource allocation between the...

This paper argues that currently advanced, aging economies experienced a qualitative change in the role of public education during the process of industrialization. In the early phases of the Industrial Revolution, public education was regarded as a duty that regulated child labor and thereby...

This article demonstrates a theoretical possibility that aging economies driven by a scale effect of human capital sustain growth, away from a poverty trap. The hurdle to the prosperous path is raised by inequality in the fixed cost of child rearing

This paper develops a dynamic theory that accounts for the evolution of trade policy, underlying internal class conflicts, and output growth performance over the last few centuries. By analyzing political responses to the distributional effects of international trade, it finds a prominent...

This research develops a theory about the role of within-country income inequality leading to overtaking in economic performance among countries. The theory captures two opposing effects of inequality on factor accumulation and suggests that the qualitative change in their combined effect is a...

This paper develops a dynamic theory that accounts for the evolution of trade policy, underlying internal class conflicts, and output growth performance. By analyzing political responses to the distributional effects of international trade, it finds that economies with a comparative advantage in...