May human capital rescue the Empty Planet?

Abstract

Evidence suggests that fertility rates are already below the replacement level in many advanced countries, meaning that population is decreasing in these regions. We build an R&D-based growth model with human capital and declining population to show that the introduction of human capital can mitigate (or overcome) the stagnation in GDP per capita that may otherwise occur. Also, our model allows us simultaneously to observe sustained economic growth combined with secular productivity stagnation.