Massimo Livi-Bacci, Professor of Demography, University of Florence During the century following Columbus's landfall, the population of America experienced a precipitous decline. A widely accepted explanation is the diffusion of Eurasian pathogens among the nonimmune Indians with the attendant catastrophic mortality. Contemporary observers—conquerors, administrators, missionaries, and chroniclers—while mentioning disease among factors in the decline, were convinced that the demographic collapse was due to a plurality of factors, such as serfdom and the confiscation of labor, excessive work, economic and social dislocation, wars and conflicts, and impediments to reproduction. Reconsideration of historical evidence supports the notion that new pathologies cannot satisfactorily explain the varying demographic impacts of Conquest. The Tainos of the Antilles were on the verge of extinction before the first smallpox epidemics struck the islands in 1518; the Guaranís of Paraguay were flourishing in spite of recurrent epidemics; in Peru civil wars were the major cause of decline during the first two decades of Spanish rule. A reappraisal of the Indian catastrophe must consider—together with the impact of the new viruses—the modes and circumstances of European domination. [32, no. 2 (Jun 06): 199–232]
- Institutions and Development: A Conceptual Reanalysis
Alejandro Portes, Howard Harrison and Gabrielle Snyder Beck Professor of Sociology, Princeton University This essay reviews the concept of "institutions" as used in the recent economic literatures on firms and national development and notes its limitations. An alternative framework is proposed that draws on classic and contemporary sociological theory to position the concept of institutions in relation to other basic elements of culture and social structure. The framework is used to analyze (1) the failure of attempts to transplant institutions of developed countries into the global South and (2) the dynamics of massive privatization in Mexico. The bearing of this framework on current institutional theories of social change is examined, leading to the identification of sources of change at different levels of causal significance and scope. This modified theory of change is applied to the long-standing demographic debates on historical and institutional determinants of fertility transitions. The bearing of the proposed "thick institutionalist" framework on social theory and future development policies is discussed. [32, no. 2 (Jun 06): 233–262]
- Economic Development, Gender Inequality, and Demographic Outcomes: Evidence from India
Prabir C. Bhattacharya, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh This article examines the determinants of fertility, child mortality, and female disadvantage in child survival in India, using a district-level panel data set linking 1981 and 1991 censuses. The results question the dominant view that variables directly related to women's agency (specifically, the female literacy rate and the female labor force participation rate) have played the crucial roles here. Instead, variables reflecting the general level of development and modernization are shown to have had the greatest effect in reducing fertility and child mortality during the period of the study. Both economic development and women's agency are seen to have had significant effects in reducing the female disadvantage in child survival. The results suggest, however, that with continued economic development, the two women's agency variables lose their significance in influencing this disadvantage. The policy implications of these findings are considered. [32, no. 2 (Jun 06): 263–291]
- Reexamining China's Fertility Puzzle: Data Collection and Quality over the Last Two Decades
Guangyu Zhang, Research Fellow, Department of Public Health, Flinders University, South Australia Zhongwei Zhao, Senior Fellow, Demography and Sociology Program, Australian National University, and Bye Fellow, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge China's fertility level has become a matter of considerable debate since the early 1990s. Despite the widespread concern over data quality, a review of the literature reveals little systematic examination of how fertility data are collected, what specific problems they pose, and how they have been used in demographic research. This article examines five major fertility data sources and identifies problems in producing and using fertility data and discusses their implications. Issues relating to China's controversial 2000 census results and the reported low fertility are examined. The analysis concludes that the prevalent uncertainty about fertility levels may not only be related to the problem of data quality, but could also arise from misinterpreting fertility data and exaggerating the problem of undercounting. [32, no. 2 (Jun 06): 293–321]
Notes and Commentary On Explaining Asia's "Missing Women": Comment on Das Gupta Emily Oster, Becker Fellow, Initiative on Chicago Price Theory, University of Chicago Cultural versus Biological Factors in Explaining Asia's "Missing Women": Response to Oster Monica Das Gupta, Senior Social Scientist, Development Research Group, The World Bank, Washington, DC
Data and Perspectives The Impact of Past Conflicts and Social Disruption on the Elderly in Cambodia Zachary Zimmer, Associate, Population Council John Knodel, Research Professor, University of Michigan Kiry Sovan Kim, Chair and Professor of Sociology, Royal University of Phnom Penh Sina Puch, Professor of Sociology, Royal University of Phnom Penh Cambodia experienced violence during the rule of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. Many who died were the children or spouses of today's elderly. This may have resulted in an erosion of family support in a country where formal channels of assistance are virtually absent. This article examines the extent to which current Cambodian elderly experienced deaths of children or spouses, forced migration, and separation from family during the Khmer Rouge period and the extent to which these experiences are associated with adverse welfare conditions of older adults. Data come from a 2004 representative survey of persons aged 60 years and older. More than one in four report that a child died from violent causes during the Khmer Rouge period. More than one in five report death of multiple children. A striking, and on the surface counterintuitive, conclusion is that the impact of deaths on welfare is modest. The reasons, elucidated in the article, include close family integration, high fertility among the current generation of older adults, the probability that losses depended on family size, and the pervasiveness of poverty. [32, no. 2 (Jun 06): 333–360]
Archives - Benjamin Constant on Government Measures to Influence Population Growth
Book Reviews Tim Dyson, Robert Cassen, and Leela Visaria (eds.), Twenty-First Century India: Population, Economy, Human Development, and the Environment, reviewed by Vijayendra Rao United Nations Population Division, Living Arrangements of Older Persons Around the World, reviewed by John Knodel - William Easterly, The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, reviewed by Geoffrey McNicoll (PDF)
Short Reviews Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens Through the Twenties Human Security Centre, Human Security Report 2005: War and Peace in the 21st Century Jennifer Johnson-Hanks, Uncertain Honor: Modern Motherhood in an African Crisis Landis MacKellar, Tatiana Ermolieva, David Horlacher, and Leslie Mayhew, The Economic Impacts of Population Ageing in Japan Patrick Manning, Migration in World History Dudley L. Poston, Jr., Che-Fu Lee, Chiung-Fang Chang, Sherry L. McKibben, and Carol S. Walther (eds.), Fertility, Family Planning, and Population Policy in China Warren C. Robinson and Fatma H. El-Zanaty, The Demographic Revolution in Modern Egypt - Tukufu Zuberi, Amson Sibanda, and Eric O. Udjo (eds.), The Demography of South Africa
Documents
|
