Unified growth theory

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Unified growth theory was developed in light of the alleged failure of endogenous growth theory to capture key empirical regularities in the growth processes and their contribution to the momentous rise in inequality across nations in the past two centuries. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Unified growth theory suggests that during most of human existence, technological progress was offset by population growth, and living standards were near subsistence across time and space. [5] [6]

The testable predictions of the theory and its underlying mechanisms have been confirmed in empirical and quantitative research in the past decade, and have inspired intensive exploration of the impact of historical and pre-historical forces on comparative economic development and the disparity in the wealth of nations. [7] [8] [9] (d) the theory as a whole was explored quantitatively. [10] [11] Traits that were complementary to the technological environment generated higher level of income, and therefore higher reproductive success. Testable predictions of this evolutionary theory and its underlying mechanisms have been confirmed empirically [12] and quantitatively. [13]

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References

  1. Galor, Oded (2011). Unified Growth Theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN   9781400838868.
  2. Galor, Oded (2005). "From Stagnation to Growth: Unified Growth Theory." In: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (eds.). Handbook of Economic Growth. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4: 171-293.
    Galor, Oded; Weil, David N. (2000). "Population, Technology, and Growth: From Malthusian Stagnation to the Demographic Transition and Beyond" (PDF). American Economic Review. 90 (4): 806–828. doi:10.1257/aer.90.4.806.
  3. Ashraf, Quamrul; Galor, Oded (2011). "Dynamics and Stagnation in the Malthusian Epoch". American Economic Review. 101 (5): 2003–2041. doi:10.1257/aer.101.5.2003. PMC   4262154 . PMID   25506082.
  4. Komlos, John; Artzrouni, Marc (1990). "Mathematical Investigations of the Escape from the Malthusian Trap" (PDF). Mathematical Population Studies. 2 (4): 269–287. doi:10.1080/08898489009525313. PMID   12283330.
  5. Artzrouni, Marc (1985). Population Growth through History and the Escape from the Malthusian Trap: A Homeostatic Simulation Model (PDF). Genus 41. pp. 3–4, 21–40.
  6. "The Industrial Revolution as the Escape from the Malthusian Trap". Journal of European Economic History . 29 (2–3): 307–331. 2000.
  7. Ashraf, Quamrul; Galor, Oded (2011). "Dynamics and Stagnation in the Malthusian Epoch". American Economic Review. 101 (5): 2003–2041. doi:10.1257/aer.101.5.2003. PMC   4262154 . PMID   25506082.
  8. Franck, Raphaël; Galor, Oded (2016). "Technology-Skill Complementarity in the Early Phase of Industrialization". IZA Discussion Papers 9758 - Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    de Pleijt, Alexandra; Nuvolari, Alessandro; Weisdorf, Jacob (2018). "Human Capital Formation during the First Industrial Revolution: Evidence from the Use of Steam Engines". CEPR Discussion Papers 12987.
  9. Becker, Sascha; Cinnirella, Francesco; Woessmann, Ludger (2010). "The trade-off between fertility and education: evidence from before the demographic transition" (PDF). Journal of Economic Growth. 15 (3): 177–204. doi:10.1007/s10887-010-9054-x. hdl: 1893/1598 . S2CID   16014490.
    Murphy, Tommy (2015). "Old habits die hard (sometimes)". Journal of Economic Growth. 20 (2): 177–222. doi:10.1007/s10887-015-9111-6. S2CID   154506639.
    Fernihough, Alan (2017). "Human capital and the quantity–quality trade-off during the demographic transition" (PDF). Journal of Economic Growth. 22 (1): 35–65. doi: 10.1007/s10887-016-9138-3 .
    Klemp, Marc; Weisdorf, Jacob (2018). "Fecundity, Fertility and the Formation of Human Capital". Economic Journal. (forthcoming).
    Shiue, Carol H. (2017). "Human capital and fertility in Chinese clans before modern growth" (PDF). Journal of Economic Growth. 22 (4): 351–396. doi:10.1007/s10887-017-9148-9. S2CID   73715675.
  10. Lagerlöf, Nils-Petter (2006). "The Galor-Weil Model Revisited: A Quantitative Exercise". Review of Economic Dynamics. 9 (1): 116–142. doi:10.1016/j.red.2005.07.002.
  11. Galor, Oded; Moav, Omer (2002). "Natural Selection and the Origin of Economic Growth". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 117 (4): 1133–1191. doi:10.1162/003355302320935007. hdl: 10419/80194 .
  12. Galor, Oded; Klemp, Mark (2018). "Human Genealogy Establishes Selective Advantage to Moderate Fertility".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. Collins, Jason; Baer, Boris; Weber, Ernst Juerg (2014). "Economic Growth And Evolution: Parental Preference For Quality And Quantity Of Offspring" (PDF). Macroeconomic Dynamics. 18 (8): 1773–1796. doi:10.1017/s1365100513000163. S2CID   28274524.