In the course of demographic transitions (DTs), two large-scale trends become apparent: (i) the broadly positive association between wealth, status and fertility tends to reverse, and (ii) wealth inequalities increase and then temporarily decrease. We argue that these two broad patterns are linked, through a diversification of reproductive strategies that subsequently converge as populations co...

This is an introduction to a special issue on aspects of demographic aging in Asia. It provides "an overview of the issues related to the rapid increase in the number of elderly in some Asian countries. It describes how the articles contained in this special issue...demonstrate that the familial system of support for the elderly has persisted despite major social and economic change. It also...

Most work on the human fertility transition has focused on declines in mean fertility. However, understanding changes in the variance of reproductive outcomes can be equally important for evolutionary questions about the heritability of fertility, individual determinants of fertility and changing patterns of reproductive skew. Here, we document how variance in completed fertility among women (4...

I construct an index of political polarization using seven previously proposed measures. I estimate the relative propensity for polarization across demographic groups in a regression framework and examine the extent to which demographic change can explain recent trends in polarization. Assuming fixed propensities for polarization, I estimate that 25 to 59 percent of the change in polarization b...

The Impact of Demographic Change on Human Capital Accumulation This paper investigates whether and to what extent demographic change has an impact on human capital accumulation. The effect of the relative cohort size on educational attainment of young adults in Germany is analyzed utilizing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for West-German individuals of the birth cohorts 1966 to 1986. ...

At the heart of technology transitions lie complex processes of social and industrial dynamics. The quantitative study of sustainability transitions requires modelling work, which necessitates a theory of technology substitution. Many, if not most, contemporary modelling approaches for future technology pathways overlook most aspects of transitions theory, for instance dimensions of heterogenou...

Growth in overall real welfare expenditures per capita has been a noted trend in the last thirty years in the U.S. The influence of demographic forces in contributing to this growth is considered in this paper. It is found that the growth of female-headed families is the strongest and dominant force in contributing to trends in real AFDC expenditures per capita over the long run. The influence ...

Because of their large population sizes, short generation times, and clonal mode of propagation, microorganisms should often be the first members of a community to respond evolutionarily to temporal changes in the environment. Because the planktonic microbial community directly or indirectly influences all other members of aquatic ecosystems, it is useful to have a general theory for the magnit...

this essay introduces a general theory of how societies change as a consequence of the changing composition of their members with respect to certain relevant and measurable characteristics. these characteristics can either change over the life course of individuals or from one generation to the next. while the former changes can be analytically identified and described by certain ageand duratio...