We present three conditions for a demography-driven middle-income trap and show that many economies in East, South, and Southeast Asia satisfy all of them. The conditions are (1) support ratio - the ratio of workers to consumers - matters for economic growth, (2) economic development accompanies...

We consider the effects of a paid childcare leave subsidy on maternal behavior in South Korea using a difference-in-difference design and a fertility survey with information on conception, contraception, and labor supply arrangements. Childcare subsidies increased conception and decreased...

Over the demographic transition, declining fertility leads to rising support ratios and consumption during the first divided phase, followed by falling support ratios as population ages. Might human capital investments rise sufficiently as fertility falls to preserve the initial gains? Using a...