A statistical approach to investigate economic growth on the basis of population: Principle of least square method (PLSM).

The 20th century has witnessed greater economic growth of the countries having large population size and the population growth in terms of number of people added per year. Countries like China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Ethiopia have shown greater economic growth rate in 21^st century. Out of 15 most populated countries, 14 were among the top 45 economies (by GDP) with an exception of Ethiopia. However, 9 of these countries are out of top 100 economies by GDP per capita income. High population growth, large ratio of vulnerable employment and higher age dependency ratio are the factors responsible for lower per capita income of these countries. The theory developed by Thomas Malthus seems to be applicable for these countries [19]. Many of the researchers have tried to correlate the rate of economic growth with that of population growth. A statistical analysis of the data from World Bank has been done in presented work to establish the correlation between population and economy [25]. A discussion about the observed trend line and estimated trend line principle of least square method (PLSM) is also presented the basis of consistency of economic growth and age dependency ratio [21]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]