 |
|
Challenging conventional wisdom: advances in development reverse fertility declines, says Penn study
August 06, 2009PHILADELPHIA - A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the Università Bocconi in Milan have released a study that challenges one of the most established and accepted standards in the social sciences: Human fertility levels tend to decline as countries advance towards high levels of social and economic development.
The researchers question the conventional wisdom by documenting new findings, potentially relevant to discussions of economic and social policy, of a reversal of fertility declines in highly developed countries once they reach a certain level of wealth.
Researchers looked at total fertility rate and the human development index, HDI, in 24 developed countries during a 30-year period. The data demonstrated that the well-established negative relationship between fertility and development has been reversing as the global population entered the 21st century. While social and economic development continues to promote fertility decline at low and medium levels of HDI, at advanced HDI levels further development can reverse the declining trend in fertility.
Now, HDI is positively associated with fertility among highly developed countries. This reversal of fertility decline as a result of continued economic and social development has the potential to slow the rates of population aging, thereby ameliorating the social and economic problems that have been associated with the emergence and persistence of very low fertility.
"This study provides some 'light at the end of the tunnel' for countries that were concerned about population aging and population decline as a result of very low fertility rates," said Kohler, a professor of sociology in Penn's School of Arts and Sciences. "This is a surprising new empirical finding that will almost certainly generate additional research to better understand the underlying mechanisms of fertility change and possible policy responses to low fertility."
University of Pennsylvania
More Social Economic Development Current Events and Social Economic Development News Articles
 |
Colonial Legacies: Economic and Social Development in East and Southeast Asia by Anne E. Booth (Author) It is well known that Taiwan and South Korea, both former Japanese colonies, achieved rapid growth and industrialization after 1960. The performance of former European and American colonies (Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines) has been less impressive. Some scholars have attributed the difference to better infrastructure and greater access to education in Japan's colonies. Anne Booth examines and critiques such arguments in this ambitious comparative study of economic development in East and Southeast Asia from the beginning of the twentieth century until the 1960s. Booth takes an in-depth look at the nature and consequences of colonial policies for a wide range of factors, including the growth of export-oriented agriculture and the... |
 |
A Passion For Sustainability Starring: -- Directed By: Eric G. Stacey Envision a society where economic opportunity, social justice and sustainable culture all spring from environmental stewardship. Imagine a world where nurturing the health of the planet is the catalyst for global financial success and social stability. Can you? -- Ten years ago, fourteen business owners in Portland, Oregon did just that. Using a sustainability tool called The Natural Step, these fourteen business owners looked at their business plans through the lens of environmental sustainability and began the journey to create businesses that would be responsible for Earth's natural systems while building economic growth. Along the way, all fourteen developed A Passion for Sustainability. Join these inspiring pioneers as they describe the journeys they have taken, the challenges... |
 |
India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity by Jean Dreze (Author), Amartya Sen (Author) India's success in reducing endemic deprivation since Independence has been quite limited. Recent diagnoses of this failure of policy have concentrated on the counterproductive role of government regulation, and on the need for economic incentives to accelerate the growth of the economy. This book argues that an assessment of India's failure to eliminate basic deprivations has to go beyond this limited focus, and to take note of the role played in that failure by inadequate public involvement in the provision of basic education, health care, social security, and related fields, Even the fostering of fast and participatory economic growth requires some basic social change, which is not addressed by liberalization and economic incentives. The authors also discuss the historical antecedents... |
 |
A Survey of Sustainable Development: Social And Economic Dimensions (Frontier Issues in Economic Thought) by Jonathan Harris (Editor), Timothy Wise (Editor), Kevin Gallagher (Editor), Neva R. Goodwin (Editor), Amartya Sen (Editor) Perpetual economic growth is physically impossible on a planet with finite resources. Many concerned with humanity's future have focused on the concept of "sustainable development" as an alternative, as they seek means of achieving current economic and social goals without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own goals. Sustainable development brings together elements of economics, public policy, sociology, ecology, resource management, and other related areas, and while the term has become quite popular, it is rarely defined, and even less often is it understood. A Survey of Sustainable Development addresses that problem by bringing together in a single volume the most important works on sustainable human and economic development. It offers a broad overview... |
|
Economic Developments in India by Academic Foundation Trp Includes analytical articles authored by eminent economists and experts, along with important Reports/Documents prepared by government & non-government organizations in India and abroad. | |
 |
Beyond Borders: The New Regionalism in Latin America: Economic and Social Progress in Latin America: 2002 Report (Inter-American Development Bank) by Professor Inter-American Development Bank (Author) Regional integration initiatives have long been part of the world economic landscape. In Latin America, integration flourished in the early post-war era but then lost momentum until the 1990s, when there was a new wave of initiatives ranging from free trade areas to customs unions. Beyond Borders, this year’s edition of Economic and Social Progress in Latin America, explores the emergence of this "new regionalism." The resurgence of integration has complemented unilateral and multilateral efforts to open up the world economy and become a vital part of Latin America’s structural reform process. The book examines such dimensions of integration as market access, institutional arrangements, regional infrastructure, financial integration, and macroeconomic and exchange rate... |
 |
Peddlers and Princes: Social Development and Economic Change in Two Indonesian Towns (Comparative Studies of New Nations) by Clifford Geertz (Author) In a closely observed study of two Indonesian towns, Clifford Geertz analyzes the process of economic change in terms of people and behavior patterns rather than income and production. One of the rare empirical studies of the earliest stages of the transition to modern economic growth, Peddlers and Princes offers important facts and generalizations for the economist, the sociologist, and the South East Asia specialist. "Peddlers and Princes is, like much of Geertz's other writing, eminently rewarding . . . Case study and broader theory are brought together in an illuminating marriage."—Donald Hindley, Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science "What makes the book fascinating is the author's capacity to relate his anthropological findings to questions... |
|
Community, Culture, and Economic Development: The Social Roots of Local Action (Suny Series, Democracy in American Politics) by Meredith Ramsay (Author) A comparative study of economic development policy, and its relationship with local power structures and cultural and social relations, in two Maryland towns that have rejected development. This book questions the conventional wisdom in studies of local economic development that communities will invariably pursue outside investment as a way of increasing land values and creating jobs and opportunities. Meredith Ramsay demonstrates how two towns in Maryland's poorest county have routinely rejected economic development, and in a further challenge to the dominant paradigm, she shows that these rejections were "rational": Opposition to economic development was a reasonable means of protecting and achieving community values. Contrary to the market paradigm, Ramsay shows how the goals of... | |
|
Community Action for Disabled People [VHS] | |
 |
Terrorism and Development: Using Social and Economic Development Policies to Inhibit a Resurgence of Terrorism by Kim Cragin (Author) Is there a relationship between economic and social development and a decrease in terrorist activity? If so (and the relationship, if any, is subtle and not direct), what development policies work best to reduce terrorist violence or popular support for such violence? The authors examine social and economic development policies enacted in three countries-Israel, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom-to inhibit a resurgence of terrorist violence within their territories. Each of these initiatives were part of wider peace and conflict resolution efforts that attempted to mitigate local perceptions of past wrongdoings in communities that support terrorist groups. The varied results from these cases provide lessons for future development efforts, especially those designed for purposes of... |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |