Author Description

In this book, a model of long-term interrelationships<br/>between income distribution, population growth and economic<br/>development is developed and estimated from data for 54<br/>countries. The results indicate that a reduction of income<br/>inequality leads to lower fertility and mortality, to<br/>improvedbasic needs satisfaction, and to lower labour force<br/>participation of young and old males and of females in Asia<br/>and Africa. The effect of income distribution on saving and<br/>consumption is found to be negligible. These outcomes<br/>suggest that family planning and health policies in LDCs<br/>will show better results when they are supplemented with<br/>policies aimed at makingthe poor benefit from economic<br/>growth. As regards development policy, the results indicate<br/>that a reduction of income inequality does not impair the<br/>formation of physical capital, but enhances the formation of<br/>human capital and lowers the growth rate of the labour<br/>force.