Skip to main content

Historical Demography

  • Living reference work entry
  • Latest version View entry history
  • First Online:
  • 91 Accesses

Abstract

Historical demography deals with population dynamics prior to and during early phases of industrialization. Using family reconstruction historical methodology, demographers have found partial answers to Malthusian questions revolving around mortality and fertility rates in religious records yielding estimates for marriage, life expectancy and reproduction within marriage. Employing cause of death estimates and Hutterite index measures for the proportion of women married and the level of their reproduction within marriage, historical demographers have developed tentative answers to demographic transition queries. Historical demography has contributed much to our understanding of historical population dynamics.

This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition, 2008. Edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Bibliography

  • Bengtsson, T., C. Campbell, J. Lee, et al. 2004. Life under pressure: Mortality and living standards in Europe and Asia, 1700–1900. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coale, A., and S. Watkins, eds. 1986. The decline of fertility in Europe: The revised proceedings of a conference on the European fertility project. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayami, A. 1997. The historical demography of pre-modern Japan. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingsworth, T. 1969. Historical demography. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. 1980. An historical perspective on economic aspects of the population explosion: The case of preindustrial England. In Population and economic change in developing countries, ed. R. Easterlin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. 1985. Population homeostasis and English demographic history. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 25: 635–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. 1987. Population dynamics of humans and other animals. Demography 24: 443–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, J., and C. Campbell. 1997. Fate and fortune in rural China: Social organization and population behavior in Liaoning 1774–1873. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mosk, C. 1983. Patriarchy and fertility: Japan and Sweden, 1880–1960. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrigley, E., and R. Schofield. 1981. The population history of England 1541–1871. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2008 The Author(s)

About this entry

Cite this entry

Mosk, C. (2008). Historical Demography. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_836-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_836-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95121-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Historical Demography
    Published:
    21 March 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_836-2

  2. Original

    Historical Demography
    Published:
    24 November 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_836-1