Premium
Does size matter? Implications of household size for economic growth and convergence
Author(s) -
Kufenko Vadim,
Geloso Vincent,
Prettner Klaus
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
scottish journal of political economy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.4
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1467-9485
pISSN - 0036-9292
DOI - 10.1111/sjpe.12188
Subject(s) - convergence (economics) , economics , divergence (linguistics) , per capita , standard of living , econometrics , demographic economics , macroeconomics , demography , market economy , population , linguistics , philosophy , sociology
We assess the effects of changes in household size on the long‐run evolution of living standards and on cross‐country convergence. When the observed changes in average household size across countries are taken into consideration, growth in living standards is slower throughout the 20th century as compared to a measure based on per capita GDP. Furthermore, the speed of divergence between different countries before 1950 is faster and the speed of convergence after 1950 is slower after adjusting for the evolution in household size.