Antecedents and consequences of impending population implosion in the developed world: implications for business systems

Even as the world's population recently surpassed the 7 billion mark, there is enormous evidence pointing to the impending population implosion in approximately four decades, which will mostly affect the developed world. The latest UN statistics show that total fertility rates in most developed nations, have dropped to well below 2.1 children per woman, the required rate needed to sustain population growth. Based on a literature review and using a grounded theory approach, we identify demographic, socio-cultural, and economic/environmental, as antecedent factors primarily responsible for depopulation in the developed world, followed by a discussion of possible consequential factors. Implications of this phenomenon, and how it impacts the business systems, specifically, production, distribution, consumption and institutional systems are also discussed.