研究

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Enviromental and Demographic changes

Thang Dao (Institute of Social and Economic Research)

  • 人文学社会科学系
  • 社会経済研究所

取組要旨

My studies stand on dynamic general equilibrium models with particular focuses on Climate Change, Environmental and Resource Economics, and Demographic Economics, among others. My published papers have investigated environmental policies, resource rent taxation as well as other taxation schemes, and (self-)enforcing intergenerational social contract approaches to overcome environment/ecology-related poverty traps towards sustainable development. These studies are based heavily on analyzing complex dynamical systems and quantitative simulations, dynamic optimization, game theory, mechanism design, and also econometrics.

Currently, I put a strong emphasis on demographic change in developing and least developed countries which contributes to local environmental degradation and global warming, and reinforces stagnant economic growth. I focus on the persistent effects of climate change and environmental degradation on the speed of demographic transition, and hence the size of population, in a novel mechanism. These effects may be transmitted through the interactions between income/education gender gap within family, fertility, human and physical capital accumulations, and locally natural environment/resources. The interplays between these factors, under the persistent effects of climate change and environmental degradation, may delay the demographic transitions and generate economic stagnation in the least developed regions such as sub-Saharan Africa.

研究成果・インパクト

My studies aim to provide key mechanisms linking important issues/factors—e.g. demographic transition, gender gap, physical and human capital accumulation, environment and economic growth—of the development process. They help to explain the convergences of economies to different steady states, which characterize the differences in levels of development across societies. Comprehensive understanding of such mechanisms is important in designing policies towards obtaining multiple SDGs.

In the not too far future, I believe, effective public policies towards multiple SDGs should be derived from scientific research based on the unified growth models. My research directions promise to contribute to meet this demand.

Cross-country plots of fertility and per capita income (in US dollars) against gender equality in education (1970 and 2000). Each dot represents one country. The list of countries includes the following: Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo. Dem. Rep., Congo. Rep., Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt. Arab Rep., El Salvador, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran. Islamic Rep., Iraq, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Source: WB WDI and Barro and Lee (2013).

担当研究者

Thang Dao

備考

I plan to link my research to current policy debates on SDGs.

キーワード

Environment-poverty trap, demographic transition, fertility, gender equality, unified growth theory, comparative development.

応用分野

Development economics, economic growth, public economics, environemtal economics, and demographic economics.