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Rwandan Economy at the Crossroads of Development pp 73–95Cite as

Population Growth’s Effect on Economic Development in Rwanda

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Part of the book series: Frontiers in African Business Research ((FABR))

Abstract

Population growth plays a crucial role in every country’s development process. Thus, both demographers and development economists emphasize on the population growth–economic development nexus. This study explores the effects of population growth on economic development in Rwanda over the period of 1974–2013. The study uses data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) and uses economic growth as a proxy for economic development and the neoclassical growth model to capture the effects of population growth on economic development. It also uses the ARDL technique for a time series analysis. In the long run, ARDL results show that the population growth has a positive and statistically significant impact on economic development. In the short run, population growth does not have any significant impact on economic development in Rwanda. Based on the findings, the study recommends that policymakers should keep controlling the population growth rate for economic development.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For more details of the unit root testing, see Gujarati (1995).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Statistics, School of Economics, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda

    Daniel Ruturwa Sebikabu

  2. Department of Economics and Management, Business and Development Studies Faculty, Kibogora Polytechnic, Nyamasheke, Rwanda

    Eric Ruvuna

  3. Institute of Policy Analysis and Research - Rwanda (IPAR-Rwanda), Kigali, Rwanda

    Martin Ruzima

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  1. Daniel Ruturwa Sebikabu
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  2. Eric Ruvuna
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  3. Martin Ruzima
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Correspondence to Daniel Ruturwa Sebikabu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Hanyang University, Ansan-Si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (Republic of)

    Gouranga G. Das

  2. Department of Economics, School of Economics, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda

    Rukundo Bosco Johnson

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Sebikabu, D.R., Ruvuna, E., Ruzima, M. (2020). Population Growth’s Effect on Economic Development in Rwanda. In: Das, G., Johnson, R. (eds) Rwandan Economy at the Crossroads of Development. Frontiers in African Business Research. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5046-1_5

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