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Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 2025Population inequality matters
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 2025, pp. , 2025/03/10
Population inequality matters
A heterogeneous population is a mixture of groups differing in vital rates. In such a population, some of the variance in demographic outcomes (e.g., longevity, lifetime reproduction) is due to heterogeneity and some is the result of stochastic demographic processes. Many studies have partitioned variance into its between-group and within-group components, but have focused on single factors. Especially for longevity, variance due to stochasticity is far greater than variance due to heterogeneity. Here we extend such analyses to multiple-factor studies, making it possible to calculate the contributions to variance of each factor and each of the interactions among factors. We treat the population as a mixture and use the marginal mixing distributions to compute variance components. Examples are presented: longevity as a function of sex, race and U.S. state of residence; and lifetime reproduction among a set of developed countries and as a result of resource availability and pesticide exposure.
Keywords: Heterogeneity; Stochasticity; Variance partitioning; Longevity; Lifetime reproductive output; Markov chains with rewards