Population Growth and Technological Change: One Million B.C. to 1990
1993/08/01 by Michael Kremer · 21 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Environmental Science · #Demography #Econometrics #Economic Growth and Productivity #Economic geography #Economics #Macroeconomics #Population #Population growth #Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis #Sociology #Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy #Technological change
paper · doi:10.2307/2118405
openalex publication_date 1993/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Abstract
The nonrivalry of technology, as modeled in the endogenous growth Uterature, implies that high population spurs technological change. This paper constructs and empirically tests a model of long-run world population growth combining this implication with the Malthusian assumption that technology limits population. The model predicts that over most of history, the growth rate of population will be proportional to its level. Empirical tests support this prediction and show that historically, among societies with no possibility for technological contact, those with larger initial populations have had faster technological change and population growth.
Citations
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- Human overpopulation [wikipedia]
- Outline of technology [wikipedia]
- Technology [wikipedia]
- World population [wikipedia]