Population Growth and Economic Growth/Development: An Empirical Investigation for Barbados

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of the relationship between population growth and economic growth/development in a small developing country, Barbados, in the period 1980-2010. Using the  autoregressive distributed lag approach to cointegration, the paper yields the following main results: (i) population growth and population density positively and significantly affect economic growth; (ii) economic growth negatively and significantly affects population growth; (iii) natural increase rate positively and significantly affects population growth; (iv) net international migration negatively and significantly impacts population growth. These results have policy implications.

Keywords:population growth,economic growth, economic development, ARDL, cointegration, Barbados.