Population Growth and Its Impact on Economic Development in Nagaland: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

This study empirically tests the impact of population growth on economic development of Nagaland for the period of 1981-2011. Demographic transition helps in creating a policy environment that takes maximum advantage of the demographic potential of the State. The regression technique was incorporated to investigate the relationship between population growth and economic development. The findings indicate that the labour forces were shifting from the low-productivity agriculture sector to the higher-productivity industry and service sectors. The domino effect of the study indicates that population growth has positively and significantly contributed to economic development but is negatively affected by the unemployment rate. Now although on the one hand, if it increases growth but on the other hand, it creates a problem of unemployment and leads to a decline in net state domestic product and per-capita income. The government is advised to utilize this additional workforce efficiently as a policy tool to achieve a high and desired level of growth.