Such demographic factors in Europe as low fertility rates, high life expectancy, and the restricted immigration policy have caused European societies to age rapidly and the population of Europe will dramatically decline over the next thirty years. In comparison to Europe, the trend of aging in developing counties, for example in the Middle East and Northern Africa, presents a stark contrast. Taking into account demographic trends like aging, global distribution of the population, and migration, Europe faces increasing geopolitical challenges in the future, based on the cleavages "north versus south," "rich versus poor," and "old versus young." From a domestic point of view of Continental Europe, the demographic factors are responsible not only for a declining workforce but also for increasing retirement rates. The consequences are a decreasing GDP and increasing social welfare costs. So, further development of European armed forces in an uncertain world has to take place in this tense financial situation. Taking the goals of the European Security Strategy into account and considering the necessity that the military capabilities have to be adapted to meet a new threat scenario, this thesis tries to illustrate why Europe has to intensify its efforts of European military integration, mindful of the limitation of demography and politics.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-112).

The thesis discusses the main issues of demographic transition theory and uses this in a comparative analysis of fertility movements in three socio-economically different Brazilian regions over the twentieth century. The regions are the Northeast and the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The analysis points to a clear movement towards smaller family sizes in all regions. The movement started early in the twentieth century (or before) among white women living in Rio de Janeiro. These women were probably the better off. This behaviour was followed by white Sao Paulo women after about two decades and by the 1980s had reached most women independently of socio-economic status. The diffusion of the value of a small family and the legitimatization of contraception as well as some adjustment to mortality decline seem to have played an important role in this process. Although fertility declined in all regions, a single pattern of fertility change, as delineated by the classical view of demographic transition theory, was not found. Fertility rates were always in movement, declining and increasing. The strategy used for the decline was, mostly, an earlier stopping of reproduction. However, later onset and longer spacing also became important, especially at a more advanced stage of the fertility decline. A clear and single association between socio-economic variables and family size was not observed. Each variable played a somewhat different role in the reproductive behaviour of the three societies. Mass communication contributed to the diffusion of the small family size value. The process of diffusion resulted in a separation of socioeconomic and intermediate variables. This points to the existence of a component of social pressure in the fertility decline. Indications of a continuation of fertility decline in the near future are present. However, hints of a convergence in fertility rates and their stabilization at replacement level were not found. Fertility rates may reach levels below replacement in Rio and Sao Paulo. Regional fertility differences are likely to continue. This suggests the presence of regional and individual preferences in the reproduction process or conscious choice along with some degree of institutional pressure.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Donald Abenheim, Robert E. Looney. Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-140). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Don Schlagenhauf, Florida State University, College of Social Science, Dept. of Economics. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 15, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

From a theoretical point of view, competition for the educational resources at the family and the population levels may change as the demographic transition advances. Although family size started to decline in the mid-1960s in México, the reduction in the size of the cohorts that compete for educational resources has recently occurred and it is an ongoing process in most municipalities of the country. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to examine the relationship between teenagers’ education and the demographic transition in México. The study explored if the teenagers’ school enrollment, age-grade delay at school and lower-secondary school attainment were linked to the teenagers’ number of siblings, as well as their cohort size in the municipality of residence in 2000. The 10% sample of the Mexican Housing and Population Census of 2000 was used as the main source of information. The study employed multivariate logistic regression models to accomplish its goals. Interactions between number of siblings and cohort size were tested. Also, interactions between these indicators and the teenagers’ gender and socioeconomic status were assessed respectively. The results indicated that contextual factors explained the initial negative association between teenagers’ education and cohort size, since this association disappeared or became small and positive after the addition of covariates. The Mexican educational system seems to have had the capacity of absorbing the demands in school coverage of the growing teenage population. The study revealed, however, that there was a large and negative association between teenagers’ education and number of siblings. Moreover, the study showed that the odds of the educational outcomes generally experienced larger changes by each additional sibling in the places where the demographic transition is more advanced, as well as among females and among the teenagers with high socioeconomic status. These results suggest that the educational disadvantages associated with multiple siblings may become more pronounced in the future and within certain contexts, as the demographic transition continues and big families become a smaller proportion of Mexican families. / text

Fertility rates in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) have been identified to be depicted by a  unique demographic scenario, that sets  the region  apart from other regions in the world. Demographers are particularly keen on comprehending the dynamics surrounding the demographic transition of the sub continent especially with respect to its shift from high fertility rates to low fertility rates.  The decline in fertility embodies the second phase of the demographic transition process. The discourse on fertility rates in the sub continent has been coined to be an anomaly based on its prevalence being an exception in the world. Discussion pertaining to fertility levels in the region in this paper was made  with the purpose of illuminating the factors that account for the region’s high fertility rates, as well as on  fertility discourse in the region, and the variation that characterize its prevalence amongst the countries in the sub continent. Information on the fertility rates revealed that social organization and cultural setting in the region play pivotal roles in forging high fertility rates in the region.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 1999. / Errata pasted onto front end papers. Bibliography: leaves 116-122.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-133).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 264-275). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.