How does economic growth affect society?

Firstly, Economic growth is the increase in the market value of the goods and services produced by an economy over time. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product, or real GDP. Some effects of economic growth are unemployment and inflation.

A number of arguments have been raised against economic growth.It may be that economic growth improves the quality of life up to a point, after which it doesn't improve the quality of life, but rather obstructs sustainable living. Sustainable living is a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources and personal resources.

Practitioners of sustainable living often attempt to reduce their carbon footprint by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption, and diet.

Changes in social structures occurring during the process of economic growth can be considered direct consequences of this process, while other changes are caused by factors such as technological progress, that affect simultaneously social structures and growth.

The impact of economic growth on poverty has been documented. The relationship is not direct. In some cases it can be positive i.e.economic growth leading to reduction in poverty, whereas in some cases it can be negative, ie economic growth leading to increase in poverty. The impact of economic growth on poverty depends highly on the inequalities that are prevailing in an economy.And thus it doesn't make sense to measure poverty in a developed economy in the same way you would meausre it a developing country, because the definitions of poverty will definitely differ in different economies. 

The manner in which generative and distributive effects drive ultimate outcomes and affect the economy is complex. Consequently, it is important to understand the types of economic impacts that may be generated by transportation investments.

Costs of Production and Competitiveness—Improved highway systems reduce costs for delivery of goods and services; they also support faster, more reliable transportation from one place to another. These, in turn, reduce the costs of collecting inputs and delivering products to markets in several ways:

less driver time on the road thus lower labor costs;

increased trip miles per time period per vehicle and thus smaller vehicle fleet needed for the same amount of work ("freight efficiency");

lower vehicle repair and operating costs; and

improved transportation reliability.

The first three work directly to reduce total product costs. Improved transportation reliability works to reduce production costs via reductions in inventories of inputs, spare parts, and/or finished goods.

Cost reductions that are realized will enhance the competitive position of enterprises with access to the improved highway network. In turn, this can stimulate increased trade domestically and/or internationally, resulting in improved trade balances. Moreover, expanded demand can generate economies of scale and improved productivity as enterprises take advantage of these market opportunities—thus inducing another round of cost reduction. The relative impact of these effects vary among sectors (i.e., the type of economic activity or industry) and vary according to the level of pre-highway urbanization and development.

Labor Pool—Because labor can more readily reach employment locations from farther away (assuming there are vehicles to transport them over the highway system), enterprises have a larger employment pool from which to draw. Competition could reduce wages, but an expanded labor pool should also encourage a more efficient match between skills and jobs. In some circumstances, improved connections between hometown and employment opportunities prompts workers to move closer to employment opportunities since they do not need to sever their ties to family when they migrate. Thus improved access can affect demographic patterns as well as production costs of individual enterprises.

Economic Structure—Transportation costs and improved physical access may change the mix of economic activities. That is, major investments can alter the mix of economic activities where transportation cost (or access) was an inhibiting factor. For example, previously self-sufficient areas may specialize in those activities that earn the greatest income and use that income to "import" products that used to be produced locally. The lure of reduced transportation costs can lead to shifts in geographic distribution of economic activity to take advantage of these changes. To the degree that such structural changes improve productivity, national output (per capita) is increased.

-Yu Zhen (23) 2E