How South Korea Escaped from the Malthusian Trap: Evidence from the Galor-Weil Model

This study analyzes how South Korea escaped the Malthusian trap using the Galor-Weil (2000) model. This study contributes to the literature on two points. First, it categorizes the education that enables quantity-quality tradeoffs into secondary and tertiary education. Second, this model was analyzed for the first time in South Korea. According to the empirical findings, education reduces fertility and mortality rates, but tertiary education is necessary for technological progress. South Korean society has changed its structure from quantity to quality and escaped the Malthusian trap as a consequence of its education policies.