Demographic, Economic, and Social Interrelations

Catalog description

The course investigates economic and social determinants of fertility, mortality, and migration, and it discusses the effects of population variables on economic and social conditions, including economic and social development. Topics discussed in the course include: How do economic changes affect marriage, divorce, and child bearing decisions? How do households make decisions about transfers and requests? How can economic and sociological approaches be combined in explanatory models of demography change? How does immigration to the US affect the ethnic composition of the population, the earnings of native workers, taxes on natives, and the macro-economy? What causes the aging of populations, and how will population aging affect the economies of industrial nations, and in particular, pension programs like Social Security? What accounts for the rise in women's participation in the wage labor force over the past century? How are family composition and poverty interrelated? Does rapid population growth slow economic development with low income countries? In addition to these topics, the course also covers selected methods not included in DEMG/ SOCI 5350 /5360 and 6090.