Multiregional Demographic Models

Abstract

Conventional demographic analysis has a built-in constraint arising from the assumption of a “closed” population, which implies that there is no migration. The interdependence of demographic processes such as fertility, mortality, and migration in determining the growth and structure of human populations in a multiregional framework cannot be undermined. Further, subnational population analysis has been gaining momentum in recent years as an integral part of population policy studies, where a multiregional perspective is imperative because of interregional migration. In order to circumvent the aforementioned limitation of conventional demographic analysis, a plethora of techniques were developed by Andrei Rogers and his associates during the last decade. The area has grown as a subfield of demography, namely, multiregional demography. Our aim in this chapter is to introduce the reader to this specialty of demographic analysis. Interested readers should consult specific texts or monographs for more details. In this chapter, we will attempt to present a synthesis of the core methodology, allied techniques, algorithms, and related problems.