Labor Shortage and Population Policy. Caltech Population Program Occasional Papers, Series 1, Number 6.

This paper discusses recent histories of labor shortages in Singapore, Japan, and several western European countries. Emphasis is upon the economic effects of severe shortages of labor. Fearing that these shortages would seriously handicap further economic progress, many people in these countries have advocated large-scale immigration or increased population growth or both. It is the author's conclusion that the existence of a labor shortage is not a valid ground for encouraging either population growth or immigration. The series of which this publication is a part is intended to increase understanding of the interrelationships between population growth and socioeconomic and cultural patterns throughout the world, and to communicate this understanding to scholars and policy makers. (Author/RM)