Development Economics Lab
Parameters
Development Economics — Growth & Poverty Traps
Development economics studies why some countries grow rapidly while others remain trapped in low-income equilibria despite similar resources. This simulation implements a Solow-style growth model augmented with poverty-trap dynamics, letting you adjust savings rates, population growth, and human capital investment to see which economies escape stagnation. The model illustrates why incremental aid can fail while threshold interventions succeed.
What you can do in this simulation
- Set a country's initial capital stock and savings rate to observe convergence or trap dynamics
- Adjust population growth rate and observe its drag on capital per worker
- Toggle a human capital investment subsidy and trace the new long-run equilibrium
- Visualize the phase diagram showing stable and unstable steady states
- Compare growth trajectories for countries starting just above and just below the trap threshold
Concepts covered
poverty trap · capital accumulation · steady state · Solow model · human capital · convergence
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