Population Growth and Economic Development Policy Questions (1986) / Chapter Skim
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6 Will slower population growth increase per capita levels of schooling and health?
6 Will slower population growth increase per capita levels of schooling and health?
Pages 53-61
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From page 53... ...
A better educated work force is more skilled, more adaptable, and more entrepreneurial. The value of education is not limited to any particular sector of the economy: better educated farmers appear more responsive to new technical possibilities, and better educated women seem more effective at allocating resources within the home, including those that enhance child survival (Schultz, 1979; Mensch et al., 1985)
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From page 54... ...
In a simulation exercise based on the CoaleHoover model, Barlow (1967) found that the antimalarial campaign in Sri Lanka raised the grown rate of per capita income in the short term, largely because of enhanced labor productivity, but lowered it in the long run, largely because of reduced levels of physical capital per worker (see the discussion under Question 4~.
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From page 55... ...
FAMILY SIZE AND CHILDREN'S ~:ALTH AND EDUCATION Family-level relationships between family size and mean education and health of children have been widely reviewed (e.g., Wray, 1971; Terhune, 1974; Birdsall, 1977; Ernst and Angst, 1983; Rodgers, 1984; King, 1985~. Beyond a certain family size, additional children are usually associated with lower average educational attainment and reduced levels of child health, as measured by nutritional status, morbidity, and mortality.
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From page 56... ...
The commonly observed negative relationship between the number of children and the "output" variables of levels of health and education probably reflects a negative relationship between the number of children and various "input" variables. Examples of studies finding negative associations between family size and per capita health and food expenditure can be found in Wray (1971)
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From page 57... ...
If, as widely observed in Latin America, the small upper income groups have the largest proportionate reductions, then the mean levels of child health and education would be expected to decline, other things being equal, even if there are rising expenditures per child by those groups in which fertility declines. To the extent that a national policy achieves lower fertility levels through family planning programs that reduce the incidence of unwanted children, the question of impact becomes much more highly focused.
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From page 58... ...
These results clearly imply Nat more rapid growth produces lower expenditures per enrolled child, and Schultz shows Nat this effect takes the form of more enrolled children per teacher and lower teacher salaries. Schultz's results on expenditures are roughly consistent with an earlier cross-sectional study by Simon and Pilarski (1979)
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From page 59... ...
Two of these studies found a negative or insignificant effect on student performance of per pupil expenditure for school facilities or teachers, and none showed a significant positive effect. Four studies showed a negative or insignificant effect of teacher/pupil ratios, but three showed a positive and significant effect (Simmons and Alexander, 1978:350~.
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From page 60... ...
However, Montgomery (1985) reports an insignificant, positive effect of population grown rates on government health expenditures as a share of all government expenditures in a cross-section of 49 developing countries.
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From page 61... ...
Second, family planning programs that decrease the incidence of unwanted births are likely to raise average levels of education and health among children, both because they increase investment within the family in child health and education and because they reduce the fraction of births occurring in lower income families. Third, countries with more rapid population growth do not appear to have lower levels of school enrollment, coterie panbus; they do seem to have lower school expenditures per child and fewer teachers per student.
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