Shandong Province Population Changes In The Age Structure Of Economic Development

The relationship between population development and economic development is one of the most important and basic issues during the development of human society. The role of population on economic development is the combined result of many aspects of population. Age structure, as one of physical attributes of population, is significant to economic development, because population is a unification of producers and consumers which is related to age.Since the1990s, Western scholars began to study how the changing population age structure is related to economic development, and put forward the new theory-Demographic Dividend. Demographers and economists have put great concern and focus on the new theory of Demographic Dividend and made some research in this field. In the process of demographic transition, age structure of population would make the population condition of the high proportion of working-age people, which can reduce social burden and improve saving rate to benefit economic growth. So demographers define this period as Demographic Dividend. Therefore, in the theoretical perspective of Demographic Dividend, to study the relationship between population age structure and economic development is an important part of regional economics.This paper, in a perspective on Demographic Dividend, studies the effect of population age structure on economic development in Shandong province. Literature research, the method of combining normative analysis and positive analysis and analytical method combined quality with quantity are applied in this paper. Based on the study of demographic transition in Shandong province, this paper shows the trends and characteristics of population age structure in Shandong province to judge and analyze the validation of Demographic Dividend. Referring to the above research summary and theoretical basis, the paper analyzes the effects of labor force supply on economic development, i.e. the first demographic dividend, by applying a Cobb-Douglas Production Function. And then, the paper researches the second demographic dividend-the effect of population dependent rate on savings rate by constructing a regression function. It comes to these conclusions:Labor force supply has taken an important role in economic development since1978; population dependent rate brings an obvious influence on saving rate-the young dependent rate is positive to saving rate, and the old dependent rate is negative to it. Finally, it puts forward the suggestions of fully realizing the Demographic Dividend in Shandong province.The above research will not only help to figure out the important influence of demographic factors on economic growth and social development in Shandong province, but also contribute to a correct view of population economic situation confronted by Shandong province, which provides basis for the viable ways of fully realizing the demographic dividend in Shandong province.