New paper published in Population, Space and Place.

'Changing Determinants of Low Fertility and Diffusion: a Spatial Analysis for Italy' looks at Italy as a case study in lowest-low fertility and how its internal heterogeneity is substantial and changing over time; contributing to bringing space back into the analyses of fertility behaviours. The work suggests that the theoretical framework offered by the diffusionist perspective to fertility transition could still be relevant in explaining fertility changes in contemporary advanced societies.

The research finds that spatial heterogeneity is not just manifest in different levels in fertility across provinces and regions, but there is substantial heterogeneity also in the association between fertility and other factors (GDP, secularisation, fertility of foreigners, and gender gap in the labour market) across different provinces.

The paper by CPC Member Agnese Vitali and Francesco Billari of The University of Oxford is available online here.

Posted 18/11/2015 16:05