A Literature Review on Population Growth and Economic Development

There exists a close and reciprocal relationship between population growth and economic development in a country. The population in one way constitutes a source of labor that could be utilized to boost the country's production. On the other hand, it could also be seen as a consumer group that uses and exhausts a large quantity of the country's resources. However, certain economists from the earlier times have pointed out that the increase of population and the rapid growth of population in a country is tied to its economy. But the opinion of some other economists is that although the population can grow rapidly in a country, its natural and physical resources are limited, and as a consequence this situation could prove to be an obstacle to the economic development of the country. In the midst of these arguments the demographic transition theory attempts to clarify the relationship between population growth and economic development. It is clear that in the past economists and demographers considered the inter-relationship between population growth and economic development from both an optimistic perspective as well as from a pessimistic perspective. Those who viewed it optimistically adopted a benign attitude towards population increase; that is, they considered it is not necessary to control the population growth of a country. According to them the growth of population does not bring bad results. The pessimists look at it differently and assert that if a country is to attain a higher state of development, the rate of population growth should be reduced. That is, they claim that during the process of economic development population growth should be controlled. All pessimists are of the opinion that a higher fertility rate and the resulting rapid population growth act as a damper on economic development. The main objective of this paper is to examine the literature on the inter-relationship between population growth and economic development from both an optimistic angle as well as from a pessimistic angle.