One of the first tradable rights proposal is Boulding’s (The
Meaning of the Twentieth Century, London: George Allen and Unwin
Ltd, 1964), dealing with overpopulation. We discuss both tradable
procreation allowances and exemptions domestically and globally, to
address underpopulation as well. We focus on three effects.
Notably, the rights’ tradability entails that whereas exemptions or
expensive enough allowances benefit the poor, cheap allowances
benefit the rich. A natalist policy also worsens the average
education level of the next generation, whereas population control
enhances it. Also, if procreation rights are grandfathered to
countries, the scheme redistributes further. Our analysis suggests
that procreation entitlements may be efficient in controlling
population, without being necessarily anti-redistributive.