This book addresses nine relevant questions: Will population growth reduce the growth rate of per capita income because it reduces the per capita availability of exhaustible resources? How about for renewable resources? Will population growth aggravate degradation of the natural environment? Does more rapid growth reduce worker output and consumption? Do rapid growth and greater density lead to productivity gains through scale economies and thereby raise per capita income? Will rapid population growth reduce per capita levels of education and health? Will it increase inequality of income distribution? Is it an important source of labor problems and city population absorption? And, finally, do the economic effects of population growth justify government programs to reduce fertility that go beyond the provision of family planning services?

The fifteen essays in this volume address from several viewpoints the question of what role population change played in East Asia's rapid economic development.

There is long-standing debate on how population growth affects national economies. A new report from Population Matters examines the history of this debate and synthesizes current research on the topic. The authors, led by Harvard economist David Bloom, conclude that population age structure, more than size or growth per se, affects economic development, and that reducing high fertility can create opportunities for economic growth if the right kinds of educational, health, and labor-market policies are in place. The report also examines specific regions of the world and how their differing policy environments have affected the relationship between population change and economic development.

This book examines the nature and significance of the impact of population growth on the weIl-being of developing countries-in particular, the effects on economic growth, education, health, food supply, housing, poverty, and the environment. In addition, because family planning programmes often significantly affect population growth, the study examines the impacts of family planning on fertility and health, and the human rights implications of family planning programmes. In considering the book's conclusions about the impact of population growth on development, four caveats should be noted. First, the effects of population growth vary from place to place and over time. Thus, blanket statements about overall effects often cannot be made. Where possible, the authors note the contexts in which population effects are strongest and weakest. Second, all of the outcomes examined in this book are influenced by factors other than population growth. Moreover, the impact of population growth may itself vary according to the presence or absence of other factors. This again makes bl anket statements about the effects of population growth difficult. Throughout the chapters, the authors try to identify other relevant factors that influence the outcomes we discuss or that influence the impact of population growth on those outcomes.

First in a series of annual reports, this volume is about people and about how development enlarges their choices--access to income, long life, knowledge, political freedom, personal security, community participation, and guaranteed human rights. It measures human development not by the yardstick of income alone, but by the human development index--reflecting life expectancy, literacy and command over resources to enjoy a decent standard of living. The report analyzes the record of human development for the last three decades and the experience of 14 countries in managing economic growth and human development. The volume concludes with human development indicators for more than 130 countries, both developing and developed. ISBN 0-19-306481-X (pbk.): $15.95.

The effect of demography on economic performance has been the subject of intense debate in economics for nearly two centuries. In recent years opinion has swung between the Malthusian views of Coale and Hoover, and the cornucopian views of Julian Simon. Unfortunately, until recently, data weretoo weak and analytical models too limited to provide clear insights into the relationship. As a result, economists as a group have not been clear or conclusive.This volume, which is based on a collection of papers that heavily rely on data from the 1980s and 1990s and on new analytical approaches, sheds important new light on demographic--economic relationships, and it provides clearer policy conclusions than any recent work on the subject. In particular,evidence from developing countries throughout the world shows a pattern in recent decades that was not evident earlier: countries with higher rates of population growth have tended to see less economic growth. An analysis of the role of demography in the "Asian economic miracle" strongly suggeststhat changes in age structures resulting from declining fertility create a one-time "demographic gift" or window of opportunity, when the working age population has relatively few dependants, of either young or old age, to support. Countries which recognize and seize on this opportunity can, as theAsian tigers did, realize healthy bursts in economic output. But such results are by no means assured: only for countries with otherwise sound economic policies will the window of opportunity yield such dramatic results. Finally, several of the studies demonstrate the likelihood of a causalrelationship between high fertility and poverty. While the direction of causality is not always clear and very likely is reciprocal (poverty contributes to high fertility and high fertility reinforces poverty), the studies support the view that lower fertility at the country level helps create apath out of poverty for many families.Population Matters represents an important further step in our understanding of the contribution of population change to economic performance. As such, it will be a useful volume for policymakers both in developing countries and in international development agencies.