unified growth theory: roots of growth and inequality in the wealth of nations

stages of growth (hockey stick model)-6

1. the epoch of stagnation

2. escape from this trap

3. emergence of human capital formation

4. catalyst for onset of dramatic fertility decline

5. shift to contemporary era of sustained econ growth

6. divergence in prosperity

consequences of parental investment shifts to human capital formation

technological progress bbegan to outpace pop growth increasing income per capita leading to sharp decline in fertility counterbalancing effects of pop expansion

interaction between tech and pop

as tech accelerated beyond critical threshold edu became essential for navigating tech landscape prompting parents to allocate limited resources into childs edu

an income effect

rise in income meant alleviated susbistence consumption constraints allowed households to allocate additional rescources toward raising children

a substitutional effect

modest demand from human capital prometed reallocation of resources towards child quality

how has tech progress failed to produce a lasting impact on human prosperity

in preindustrial era- farming increased byut arable land became scarce the expanding pop diminished the per capita share of crops causing living standards to decline

regions that experiemced an ear;lier onset of the neolithic revolotion saw the emergence of..

largest prehistoric settlements and maintained persistent technological head start

mutually reinforcing relationship between tech and pop accelerated the pace of..

innovation until it reached a critical threshold culminating in a phase transition

main idea behind Galor & Moav’s theory of parental disposition toward child quality

parents with a moderate disposition toward child quality had more successful descendants due to high investments into human capital gaining evolutionary advantage and aiding the transition from stagnation to growth

how did the neolithic revolution affect the return to human capital

it introduced division of labour and trade which increased the complexity of interaction and raised returns to investing in human capital

what was the evolutionary advantage of parents with moderate predisposition for child quality during the malthusian epoch

they had higher income and more surviving offspring increasing the prevalance of this trait in the population

what demographic evidence supports the theory of evolutionary advantage for moderate fertility

genealogical data show that moderately fertile settlers had more long term descendants due to better investment into tehir childrens human capital

why did highly fertile founders in Quebec have fewer descendants over generation

beacuse they invested less per child reducing survive, literacy and reproductive success

what conditions during Quebecs founding period resemble the malthusian epoch

a high carrying capacity relative to pop size allowing rapid pop chnages and spread of human capital focused traits

what triggered the ‘phase transition’ from stagnation to growth

accelerated technological progress and increased importance of human capital leading to fertility decline and sustained economic growth

how did the interaction between technological progress and huam adaptation fuel developemnt

they reinforced each other increasing innovation and human capital investment which reduced fertility and ended stagnation

what are the ‘wheels of change’ in economic development

technological progress and human adaptation

why has the pace of economic transition varied accross regions

due to the differnces in institutions, culture, geography, colonial history and societal characteristics

what institutional factors accelated growth in some societies

protection of property rights, future oriented values, knowldege diffusion and openness to trade

how did the colonial era trade contribute to uneven global developemnt

it led industrial economies to specialise in skill intensive goods, increasing human capital while non industrial economies often focused on low skilled goods, delaying growth

what was the impact of internation trade on demographic transitions

it hastened transitions in industrial economies by increasing demand for human capital but delayed them in nonindustrial economies with less incentive to invest in education