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A general measure of human population growth regulation
Author(s) -
Weiss Kenneth M.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330370303
Subject(s) - life expectancy , fertility , population , population growth , demography , total fertility rate , population control , demographic analysis , mortality rate , demographic transition , industrialisation , schedule , geography , biology , economics , sociology , family planning , research methodology , management , market economy
Abstract A general measure relating the relative effects of mortality and fertility in damping population growth has been derived from stable population theory. This measure, called the Index of Growth Regulation, can be calculated from a life table and a fertility schedule. It is a single number which integrates the fertility and mortality aspects of a population. It has intuitive meaning, and can be related to social aspects of the population. It can be used to compare any two populations, and for this purpose it has advantages over traditional comparative statistics such as life expectancy, which consider only mortality. By selecting life tables representing general stages of human cultural evolution, it has been shown that hunting‐gathering populations were regulated more by mortality than by fertility factors. That is, more growth which could have occurred did not occur due to the incidence of mortality than to the incidence of infecundity. The two forces were of about equal weight before the industrial revolution, and fertility has had a predominant role in population regulation since the beginning of industrialization.