Geography, Health, and Demo-Economic Development

Holger Strulik*

University of Copenhagen

September 2005

Abstract. This paper investigates the interactive impact of subsistence con-
sumption and child mortality on fertility choice and child expenditure. It offers
an explanation for why mankind multiplies at higher rates at geographically
unfavorable, tropical locations. In a macro-economic framework it proposes an
indirect channel of geography’s influence on economic performance. It explains
why it are the world’s unfavorably located regions where we observe exceed-
ingly slow (if not stalled) economic development and demographic transition.

Keywords: Demographic Transition, Geography, Health, Cross-Country
Divergence

JEL: J10, J13, O11, O12

*Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Studiestraede 6, 1455 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Email:
[email protected]. I would like to thank Carl-Johan Dalgaard, Nikolaus Siegfried, and participants of the
DERG Seminar, Copenhagen for useful comments.

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