Books and Publications Received

Mexican fertility has remained at a high level (a crude birth rate of 42–46) in spite of rapid economic development and its concomitants: rising levels of urbanization, education, income, and female labour force participation, and falling levels of infant mortality and agricultural population, combined with rural-urban migration.

Data on child-woman ratios and children-ever-born statistics, for Mexico and each state, suggest that the constant crude birth rate is not masking age or region-specific declines in fertility.

Cross-section regressions are employed in an attempt to explain Mexico’s paradoxical fertility behaviour. Using measures of income, education, urbanization, occupational status, industrial composition, labour force participation, and the sex ratio, in a weighted log-linear form, a large portion of the variation in state adjusted child-woman ratios is explained by the ‘demographic transition’ variables. The only two which might possibly explain the trend in Mexican fertility are the income variable and the sex ratio, which have positive influences on Mexican fertility in 1960 and 1970.     

Recent fertility in Mexico: measurement and interpretation

Summary Mexican fertility has remained at a high level (a crude birth rate of 42-46) in spite of rapid economic development and its concomitants: rising levels of urbanization, education, income, and female labour force participation, and falling levels of infant mortality and agricultural population, combined with rural-urban migration. Data on child-woman ratios and children-ever-born statistics, for Mexico and each state, suggest that the constant crude birth rate is not masking age or region-specific declines in fertility. Cross-section regressions are employed in an attempt to explain Mexico's paradoxical fertility behaviour. Using measures of income, education, urbanization, occupational status, industrial composition, labour force participation, and the sex ratio, in a weighted log-linear form, a large portion of the variation in state adjusted child-woman ratios is explained by the 'demographic transition' variables. The only two which might possibly explain the trend in Mexican fertility are the income variable and the sex ratio, which have positive influences on Mexican fertility in 1960 and 1970.     

Population statistics] as of July 1, 2000

This Mahidol Population Gazette presents Thailand's population and demographic estimates as of July 1, 2000, using the standard techniques of demographic analysis. The paper provides estimates of Thailand's total population, population by sex, population in urban and rural areas, population by region, and by age group. In addition, figures of crude birth and death are listed per 1000 population, natural growth rate, and infant mortality rate per 1000 live births, male and females' life expectancy at birth and at age 60, total fertility rate, contraceptive prevalence rate. The number of the aged population in 2020 is also presented. Presented in a bar graph is a population pyramid for Thailand in the year 2000, illustrating male and females' age and year of birth.     

Population statistics] as of July 1, 1998

This article presents estimates of relevant population numbers and vital rates in Thailand as of July 1, 1998. Utilizing the standard demographic techniques of analysis, the estimates provided are assured to be the most accurate demographic estimates possible. Total population was estimated at 61,143,000. Estimates by sex, locales, region, and by age group are included. In addition, the crude birth rate per 1000 population was estimated at 18.7; the crude death rate per 1000 population was 6.5. For the natural growth rate the estimate was at 1.2%, and the infant mortality rate was 25.0 per 1000 live births. In terms of life expectancy at birth, the estimate for males was 69.9 years, while for females it was 74.9 years. Additional years in life expectancy at age 60 were 20.3 years for males and 23.9 years for females. The total fertility rate per woman is 1.98, and contraceptive prevalence is 72.2%. The demographic data will be disseminated to Thai and international population researchers and planners.     

中国人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响研究

本文利用相关年份的《中国统计年鉴》和人口普查数据,根据粗出生率与总和生育率的关系与特征,构建了人口年龄结构系数及其对粗出生率变动影响的贡献率指标,分析了建国以来人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响。研究发现：1949—1979年,人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响很小;1980—1993年,人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响迅速上升,年龄结构的贡献率增大;1994—2008年,人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响趋于下降,人口惯性势能在减弱;2009—2011年,受80—90年代出生高峰的影响,人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响再次凸显,年龄结构的贡献率迅速增大。从年龄别生育率逐年下降的特点,也可以证明近年推动我国人口增长的力量主要是由于年龄结构带来的惯性增长。     

中国出生性别比升高的孩次性别递进过程分析

应用孩次性别递进分析方法,使用1990年和2000年全国人口普查原始抽样数据和2005年1%人口抽样调查原始抽样数据,对我国出生性别比变化情况进行分析,并就1990年以来出生性别比升高的内在机制进行深入探讨。研究发现,从20世纪80年代初开始已经显示了生育性别干预的特征,2000年以来纯女户生育性别比升高到190以上,纯男户生育性别比下降到90以下。2005年纯女户的偏男倾向依然非常明显,生育第一孩的性别比也表现出明显的人为干预现象。正是由于对生育第一孩的性别比的直接干预,才促使了出生性别比持续升高和高孩次生育性别比及高孩次生育率的下降。     

Population statistics] as of July 1, 1999

Reported in tabular form are population statistics published by the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, in Thailand, as of July 1, 1999. The three objectives of the table were 1) to present the most recent estimates of relevant population numbers and vital rates twice a year, 2) to provide the most accurate demographic estimates possible through the use of standard techniques of demographic analysis, and 3) to disseminate the demographic data to Thailand, and international researchers and planners. The table shows statistics on the following elements: total population; population by sex; population in urban and rural areas; population by region; population by age group; crude birth and death rates; natural growth rate; infant mortality rate; life expectancies at birth and at 60 years and over; total fertility rate; contraceptive prevalence rate; and median age. A new basis for age estimates is also presented.     

Population statistics] as of January 1, 1994

This one-page sheet, dated January 1, 1994, provides statistical information on population by sex, residence, region, age, and other measures of growth and health in Thailand. Total population is listed as 58,482,000 (29,223,000 males and 29,259,000 females). The population size projected for the year 2012 is 71,414,000. Urban population numbers 17,966,000, while rural population is 40,516,000. The most populous regions are the Northeastern Region with 19,715,000 inhabitants and the Central Region (excluding Bangkok Metro area) with 14,609 inhabitants. The Northern Region has 9,503,000 inhabitants, Bangkok Metropolis has 7,503,000, and the Southern Region has 7,152,000. 15,098,000 are women in the childbearing ages. 16,843,000 are aged under 15 years, and 4,269,000 are aged 60 years and older. The crude birth rate is 18.5/1000 population. The crude death rate is 6.4/1000 population. The natural growth rate is 1.2%. Infant mortality is 34.5/1000 live births. Life expectancy at birth is 67.7 years for males and 72.4 years for females. Total fertility is 1.95 children/woman. Contraceptive prevalence is 75.0%. The graph of two-year migrants shows the peak ages for single moves to be 20-24 years (23.5%). Seasonal moves and repeat moves are much smaller in slope and never rise higher than about 5%.     

Family planning and fertility in Tunisia

The crude birth rate for the Tunisian population in 1967–68 is estimated to be about ten percent lower than in 1961–65 although the rates are subject to a wide margin of error. Unless the birth registration system is becoming steadily worse or unless the Tunisian population has been decreasing in size, however, the birth rate has fallen; births registered in 1967 or in 1968 were fewer in number than births registered in 1964, 1965, or 1966. The downturn in the crude birth rate occurred shortly after an official national family planning program was inaugurated. Estimates of births averted by contraceptive use, however, suggest that only about one third of the decrease in the rate could be attributed to accomplishments of the program. Occurring at the same time were changes in the age structure which led to smaller numbers of women in the peak reproductive ages and changes in the social status of women which included a sharp reduction in the proportion married in the age group 15–19.     

Contraceptive practice required to meet a prescribed crude birth rate target: a proposed macro-model (tabrap) and hypothetical illustrations

TABRAP (TArget Birth Rate Acceptor Program) is a computer programmed model that provides a direct solution to the problem of determining the total annual numbers of contraceptive acceptors required to achieve a prescribed crude birth rate target path. Applied to an initial population for which age structure, the fertility schedule, and expected trends in life expectancy and age-specific proportions of females married are known, TABRAP incorporates the following factors: age at acceptance, with acceptors drawn from currently married nonusers; age-method-specific attrition rates of users; a potential fertility schedule of acceptors that allows for aging and sterility; and allowance both for postpartum anovulation and nine months for gestation to time properly the averted births. TABRAP generates annual data on acceptors, couple-years of use, births averted and age-specific fertility rates that meet the crude birth rate target. Resulting changes in population size, age structure and crude vital rates, also yielded, are invariant with respect to acceptor age and method mix. Assuming a target to reduce the crude birth rate from 45 to 30 in ten years, TABRAP is illustrated for seven mixes of acceptor age-method combinations applied to a population approximately that of Thailand, circa 1965.     

Thailand population statistics] as of April 1, 1994

This one page profile gives population statistics for April 1994 in Thailand. Total population is estimated to be 58,656,000 persons, of whom 29,310,000 were male and 29,346,000 were female. The population was 18,019,000 in urban areas and 40,637,000 in rural areas. Regional population was distributed as follows: 7,532,000 in the Northern Region, 19,773,000 in the Northeastern Region, 7,174,000 in the Southern Region, 14,652,000 in the Central Region excluding Bangkok Metropolis, and 7,525,000 in Bangkok Metropolis. 35,669,000 women were of reproductive age (15-44 years). As regards the general population, 19,614,000 were aged 6-21 years, 35,669,000 were aged 20 years or older, 16,893,000 were aged under 15 years, 37,481,000 were aged 15-59 years, and 4,282,000 were aged 60 years or older. The crude birth rate was 18.5/1000 total population. The crude death rate was 6.4/1000 total population. The natural growth rate was 1.2%. The infant mortality rate was 34.5/1000 live births. Life expectancy at birth was 67.7 years for males and 72.4 years for females. Life expectancy at 60 years was 18.8 years for males and 22.0 years for females. The total fertility rate was 1.95 children/woman. Contraceptive prevalence was 75.0%. Population is expected to increase to 71,414,000 persons in the year 2012. A separate graph indicates the estimated numbers of child prostitutes based on five different assumptions about total numbers of commercial sex workers in 1993.     

The demographic transition in the Korean peninsula, 1910-1990: South and North Korea compared

North and South Korea have both experienced demographic transition and fertility and mortality declines. The fertility declines came later in North Korea. In 1990, the population was 43.4 million in South Korea and 21.4 million in North Korea and the age and sex compositions were similar. This evolution of population structure occurred despite differences in political systems and fertility determinants. Differences were in the fertility rate and the rate of natural increase. The total fertility rate was 2.5 children in North Korea and 1.6 in South Korea. The rate of natural increase was 18.5 per 1000 in North Korea and 9.8 in South Korea. Until 1910, the Korean peninsula was in the traditional stage characterized by high fertility and mortality. The early transitional stage came during 1910-45 under the Japanese annexation. Health and medical facilities improved and the crude birth rate rose and then declined. With the exception of the war years, population expanded as a function of births, deaths, and international migration. Poor economic conditions in rural areas acted as a push factor for south-directed migration, migration to Japan, and urban migration. Next came the chaotic stage, during 1945-60. South Korean population expanded during this period of political unrest. Repatriation and refugee migration constituted a large proportion of the population increase. Although the war brought high mortality, new medicine and disease treatment reduced the mortality rate after the war. By 1955-60, the crude death rate was 16.1 per 1000 in South Korea. The crude birth rate remained high at 42 per 1000 between 1950-55. The postwar period was characterized by the baby boom and higher fertility than the pre-war period of 1925-45. Total fertility was 6.3 by 1955-60. The late transitional stage occurred during 1960-85 with reduced fertility and continued mortality decline. By 1980-85, total fertility was 2.3 in the closed population. The restabilization stage occurred during 1985-90, and fertility declined to 1.6. In North Korea, strong population control policies precipitated fertility decline. In South Korea, the determinants were contraception, rising marriage age, and increased use of abortion concomitant with improved socioeconomic conditions.     

A study on the effectiveness of sterilizations in reducing the birth rate

This study analyzed 1,081 women in Kerala State (India) who were either sterilized or were the wives of sterilized men, and by examining the fertility among a comparable group of 1,000 other women, estimated the number of prevented future births per 1,000 women in the sterilized group. The results of this estimation were then applied to project what the entire savings in births might be over a 3D-year period in the entire Kerala population if each year there were one, three, or five sterilizations performed per 1,000 of total population. The results failed to confirm the hope that the crude birth rate would be decreased by 12 per 1,000 in a decade merely by sterilization of five per 1,000 of the population per annum. The study also discusses various measures of reduction in the crude birth rate. By a reasonable measure, the reduction in the crude birth rate for Kerala from such a sterilization program is estimated as seven points after a decade or nine points after three decades, reflecting decreases of 21 and 36 per cent, respectively, in the number of births.     

Economic structure and fertility: A comparative analysis

This study empirically investigates the relationship between the economic structure of populations and their level of fertility, using data from censuses recently conducted in some 50 nations. Findings show that high rates of female labor force participation outside the home and low rates of economic activity of children depress a society’s fertility level, as measured by the crude birth rate or the child-woman ratio. It is also hypothesized, but not confirmed, that the per cent of unpaid family workers in a society is positively related to its fertility level. A model is presented that treats these three components of economic structure as intervening variables through which the exogenous variables, urbanization, industrialization, and education, operate in influencing the fertility level of a society.     

Regional differences in marital fertility in the Netherlands in the second half of the nineteenth century

Abstract In the Netherlands, as in other countries, substantial regional differences in the birth rate have always been the rule rather than the exception. Of course, differences in crude birth rates may be attributed to a number of possible reasons, not all of them of primary demographic interest. For instance, according to the census of 31st December 1899, the number of women per 1,000 men in the province of Drenthe was only 924; in the province of Zuidholland the corresponding number was 1,073. It is clear that, ceteris paribus, the crude birth rate in Zuidholland would be about 7% higher than in Drenthe at that time. In such a case, the difference could reflect differences in economic development or job opportunities, factors not devoid of demographic significance, but only indirectly so.     

Sex Ratio at Birth and Infant Mortality Rate in China: An Empirical Study

In this article, we used the data from the last three population censuses of China in 1982, 1990 and 2000, to study the dynamics of the sex ratio at birth and the infant mortality rate in China. In the late 1970s, China started its economic reform and implemented many family planning programs. Since then there has been great economic development and a dramatic decrease in fertility in most of its provinces. Along with these achievements, the sex ratio at birth of the Chinese population has increased to significantly more males to females, and in some provinces of China reached unprecedented levels. The ratio of infant mortality of the males to females for manyprovinces in China become extremely unbalanced with a much higher female infant mortality rate. In our study, we investigated the statistical relationship between the sex ratio at birth and the ratio of the infant mortality of males to female. Social and economic reasons for these unnatural trends are also discussed.     

Demographic and Economic Correlates of Development as Measured by Energy Consumption

Per capita consumption of energy in 112 world areas was related to a series of economic and demographic variables. Linear associations were found for four economic variables, and a curvilinear association in the form of a J curve for four demographic variables. It was found that the exponential distribution y = e(-X) for the curves for the demographic variables (crude birth rate, infant mortality rate, percent of deaths from contagious and infectious diseases, and life expectancy). By using a table of exponential functions, one can determine values for the distribution of these variables and the crude death rate for any desired level of energy consumption.     

Causes of fertility decline in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union

Abstract This is the first part of a wider study which attempts to throw iight on the demographic, economic and social factors that have led to dramatic declines in fertility levels in most socialist countries of Eastern Europe during the last fifteen years or so. The present part is concerned with the purely demographic influences, that is mainly with the impact of changes in the age and sex structure of the populations under study, and in nuptiality. The statistical evidence adduced indicates that the observed downward trends in the annual number of births and in crude birth rates are a reflection of genuine changes in attitudes towards family size.     

出生人口性别比的变动趋势及其影响因素——一种国际视角的分析

在对半个多世纪以来国际学术界有关出生人口性别比及其影响因素研究成果总结和述评的基础上,利用收集到的典型发达国家的出生人口数据,对出生性别比的长期变动趋势、种族(民族)差异及母亲年龄与出生性别比的统计关系等进行了实证分析,旨在更全面、客观和准确地了解和认识出生人口性别比指标,为中国出生人口性别比研究提供借鉴和启示。     

中国双生子出生性别比研究

人口自然出生性别比是分析和评价人口出生性别比偏离的重要指标,中国对人口自然出生性别比的研究一直比较缺乏。人的出生性别比正常范围为102～107,国内一般都是以其上限作为标准判断人口出生性别比偏高的程度。但是这种做法是值得商榷的。利用第四次全国人口普查资料中的双生子信息探讨双生子出生性别比特征。研究表明,中国1989年双生子出生性别比为104.87,在女性主要生育年龄阶段生育的双生子出生性别比是相当稳定的,比较接近自然状态下的出生性别比。相比较而言,中国人口出生性别比不仅普遍偏高,而且随女性生育年龄变化的模式也不相同。