Looking at the population problem through the prism of heterogeneity: Welfare and policy analyses

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fan, C. Simon; Stark, Oded
• 署名单位: University of Bonn; Lingnan University; University of Klagenfurt; University of Vienna; University of Warsaw; Warsaw School of Economics
• 刊物名称: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0020-6598
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2354.2008.00498.x
• 发表日期: 2008
• 页码: 799-835
• 关键词: income-distribution; endogenous population; fertility; GROWTH; accumulation; persistence; INEQUALITY; mortality; education; size

摘要

Upon introducing heterogeneity and dynamics into a model of the demand for children, a problem of optimal population is defined and analyzed. It is shown that from the perspective of social welfare, better-educated individuals produce too few children while less-educated individuals produce too many children and all individuals invest too little in the education of their children. The impact of several policy tools geared at addressing the population problem is investigated, in particular how child allowances and other tax-subsidy policies can be harnessed to enhance welfare, and how and why early childhood education programs can mitigate the population problem.