Does a uniform age distribution minimize lifetime wages? Show
Journal of Population Economics volume 2, pages 189–210 (1989)Cite this article
AbstractMotivated by empirical evidence that fluctuations in age structure affect relative wages across age groups, this paper asks whether there is a steady-state age distribution that maximizes the lifetime wages of a representative worker. The paper proves the surprising result that in a pure labor economy with any constant returns technology, a uniform age distribution minimizes lifetime wages. Skewed age distributions, generated by either positive or negative population growth rates, generate unambiguously higher lifetime wages than a stationary population, in spite of possible reductions in per capita output in every period. The presence of non-labor factors complicates, but does not necessarily reverse, this result. The paper relates the beneficial effects of higher rates of population growth on lifetime wages in a pure labor economy with imperfect substitutability across age groups to the benefits of population growth that appear in overlapping-generation consumption loan models with intergenerational transfers. Access optionsBuy single articleInstant access to the full article PDF. 39,95 € Price includes VAT (Korea(Rep.)) References
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Additional informationA previous version of this paper was presented at the Economic Demography Workshop at the 1988 meetings of the Population Association of America. Helpful comments from Mark Berger, Theodore Bergstrom, Ronald Lee, Hal Varian, and Robert Willis are acknowledged. Rights and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleLam, D. Population growth, age structure, and age-specific productivity. J Popul Econ 2, 189–210 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00177323 Download citation
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How does age distribution affect population growth?Countries with lower median age tend to have higher population growth rates. Lower-income countries tend to have a lower median age. This is because they have a 'younger' population overall: high fertility rates across these countries mean they have larger populations of young children and adolescents.
How does age affect population?At this time the share of the population aged 60 years and over will increase from 1 billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion. By 2050, the world's population of people aged 60 years and older will double (2.1 billion). The number of persons aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050 to reach 426 million.
How does population growth rate affect population growth?First, population size is influenced by the per capita population growth rate, which is the rate at which the population size changes per individual in the population. This growth rate is determined by the birth, death, emigration, and migration rates in the population.
What does the age distribution of a population mean?age distribution, also called Age Composition, in population studies, the proportionate numbers of persons in successive age categories in a given population. Age distributions differ among countries mainly because of differences in the levels and trends of fertility.
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