An economic theory of population growth

This paper examines economic determinants of population growth by surveying the literature of economic demography and testing a hypothesis based on that literature. The dependent variable of birth rates was tested with six independent variables to see whether birth rates remain high in a society until economic development takes place, accompanied by urbanization, universal education, and a higher standard of living at the household level. Moderate to very strong correlations were found in nearly all the tests, including the multiple correlation analysis. In both tests, Infant Mortality, Urbanization, and Female Literacy showed the strongest correlation. The positive results suggest that the world's burgeoning population can best be slowed by providing basic health and educational needs at the household level in the underdeveloped nations along with broad national policies of economic development.