Population Determinants
Background of the Study
According to United Nations Population Fund (2007), “In 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities. By 2030 this number will swell to almost 5 billion, with urban growth concentrated in Africa and Asia.”
There are many factors that affect the increase or decrease of a population. Common factors include birthrate, medical advances, productivity, and so on. There have been a lot of debates and discussions as to whether an increase in population is good for the economy or not. Solow distinguished the population growth into two effects: steady state and transitional. In the steady state, the economy grows as the population grows because the per capita growth in the steady state does not affect the population growth. However, in the transition effect, high population growth imposes negative impact on the economy. The increase in population causes the economies to use their scarce resources to compensate for the rapid increasing demand for capital needed (Klasen & Lawson, 2007). Population growth is a major factor for the supply and demand of housing. It may push prices of houses up or down. The affordability of renting or owning a place may be a problem to some who moved from different cities, and changed living preferences. Most likely, an individual would move from a rural area to an urban area. The cities offer more, if not better, choices than rural areas. In the cities, you could find the best schools, wider job availability, higher wage, broader target market, more effective health services, etc. In principle, there are just more opportunities living in the city given that there is good governance. Therefore, cities offer a more economically favorable setting to address the social and environmental problems than rural areas can.
For this paper, we would be focusing on a panel data set gathered from 64 cities for two time periods: 1980 and 1990. We would
According to United Nations Population Fund (2007), “In 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities. By 2030 this number will swell to almost 5 billion, with urban growth concentrated in Africa and Asia.”
There are many factors that affect the increase or decrease of a population. Common factors include birthrate, medical advances, productivity, and so on. There have been a lot of debates and discussions as to whether an increase in population is good for the economy or not. Solow distinguished the population growth into two effects: steady state and transitional. In the steady state, the economy grows as the population grows because the per capita growth in the steady state does not affect the population growth. However, in the transition effect, high population growth imposes negative impact on the economy. The increase in population causes the economies to use their scarce resources to compensate for the rapid increasing demand for capital needed (Klasen & Lawson, 2007). Population growth is a major factor for the supply and demand of housing. It may push prices of houses up or down. The affordability of renting or owning a place may be a problem to some who moved from different cities, and changed living preferences. Most likely, an individual would move from a rural area to an urban area. The cities offer more, if not better, choices than rural areas. In the cities, you could find the best schools, wider job availability, higher wage, broader target market, more effective health services, etc. In principle, there are just more opportunities living in the city given that there is good governance. Therefore, cities offer a more economically favorable setting to address the social and environmental problems than rural areas can.
For this paper, we would be focusing on a panel data set gathered from 64 cities for two time periods: 1980 and 1990. We would
References: Karantonis, A. (n.d.) Population growth and housing affordability in the modern city - Sydney a case study. Retrieved from http://www.prres.net/papers/Karantonis_Population_Growth_and_Housing_Affordability.pdf United Nations Population Fund. (2007, May). Linking Population, Poverty, and Development. Retrieved from http://www.unfpa.org/pds/urbanization.htm Hunt, P. (n.d.) What Are Some Advantages of Attending College Near Home? Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/info_8128663_advantages-attending-college-near-home.html#ixzz2Z5VObs6j