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

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

International Economic Review

Publication Date

8-1-2008

Volume

49

Issue

3

First Page

799

Last Page

835

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Abstract

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."

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-2354.2008.00498.x

Print ISSN

00206598

E-ISSN

14682354

Publisher Statement

Copyright © International Economic Review

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Fan, C. S., & Stark, O. (2008). Looking at the "population problem" through the prism of heterogeneity: Welfare and policy analyses. International Economic Review, 49(3), 799-835. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2354.2008.00498.x

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