本研究以實證分析探討臺灣過去四十年來在人口成長與經濟成長間的相互關係。不同於既有文獻橫斷面的跨國分析方式，本文試圖了解單一國家的人口變化與經濟成長間如何互為影響。就臺灣之發展而言，人口成長與經濟成長並無直接的關聯，人口成長事實上是透過某些中介機制來影響經濟成長。本文驗證兩種中介機制，分別為產業結構的變遷與國家發展政策的適時性。同時，此二種中介機制必須透過空間性的都市發展的進程才得以呈現。因此，都市發展成為人口成長與經濟成長間的重要聯繫。
This paper examines the available empirical evidence on the complex set of interrelationships between population growth and economic growth in Taiwan over the past forty years from a perspective other than that found in the prevailing literature. It attempts to understand how population change affects economic growth in a specific country. This paper thus argues that there is no idrect relationship between population growth and economic growth. Population growth is expected to influence economic growth only through some intermediate mechanisms. Changes of industrial structure and the timing of the development policy are identified as such intermediate mechanisms. Both mechanisms are related to urban development in the context of Taiwan’s experience. Urban development therefore serves as an important linkage between population growth and economic growth.