The North Atlantic Population Project: Progress and Prospects

The North Atlantic Population Project (NAPP) is a massive database of historical census microdata from European and North American countries. The backbone of the project is the unique collection of completely digitized censuses providing information on the entire enumerated populations of each country. In addition, for some countries, the NAPP includes sample data from surrounding census years. In this article, the authors provide a brief history of the project, describe their progress to data and plans for the future, and discuss some potential implications of this unique data resource for social and economic research.     

Age heaping patterns in Mosaic data

This paper analyzes the extent and nature of age-misreporting in the Mosaic data, currently one of the largest historical census microdata infrastructures for continental Europe. We use demographic measures known as the age heaping indexes to explore regional, periodic and sex-specific patterns of age misreporting across 115 Mosaic regional datafiles, from Catalonia to Moscow, during Europe's demographic ancien régime and thereafter. The paper's second significant contribution is the comparison of Mosaic-based results to those derived from two other big census data projects—IPUMS and NAPP. Beyond this exploratory data analysis, we also investigate possible sources of variation in age heaping across Mosaic data by examining how it relates to variability in socioeconomic, institutional, and environmental conditions. Overall, our systematic inquiry into quality of age reporting in Mosaic consolidates the project's potentially transformative role in comparative historical family demography and suggests some avenues for future research.     

Balancing the Constitution: Bicameralism in Post-revolutionary France, 1814–31

After the defeat of Napoleon, representative institutions were introduced in many European states. In France, as in other countries, this new institution was modelled on the English example: a bicameral legislature with an elective and a hereditary chamber. However, the Chamber of Peers failed to live up to its model: it soon became clear that it did not behave as an independent, aristocratic chamber capable of holding the balance between the king and the popular Chamber. Restoration liberals concluded on the basis of this failure that the English political model was simply unsuitable for a levelled society such as that in post-revolutionary France. In 1831, the hereditary Chamber of Peers was abolished. The experience of the French with the Chamber of Peers therefore seems to confirm the idea of a French ‘Sonderweg’ developed by historians such as François Furet and Pierre Rosanvallon. However, it should be noted that even after 1831 the idea of a balance as such did not disappear from French political culture. French publicists suggested that the balanced constitution of the English could be imitated in France in different ways, without necessitating the creation of an aristocratic institution. Thus, the example of the French Chamber of Peers shows that institutional transfers had an important impact on French political culture.

résumé: Après la défaite de Napoléon, des institutions représentatives furent introduites dans beaucoup d'états européens. En France comme dans d'autres pays, la nouvelle institution fut modelée sur le modèle britannique du bicaméralisme avec une chambre élue et une chambre héréditaire. Cependant la chambre des pairs ne réussit pas à imiter son modèle. Il devint rapidement évident qu'elle ne représentait pas une aristocratie indépendante capable de servir de lien entre la chambre et le roi. Les libéraux de la restauration conclurent de cet échec que le modèle britannique ne correspondait pas à une société nivelée comme la France post-révolutionnaire. En 1831 la chambre des pairs hereditaire fut abolie. Cette expérience de la chambre des pairs semble confirmer l'idée d'une exception française telle que François Furet et Pierre Rosanvallon la décrive. Cependant l'idée ne disparut pas et cette notion d'équilibre resta dans le discours politique français. Les publicistes Français suggérèrent qu'une constitution équilibrée puisse être imitée sans une institution aristocratique. Cet exemple montre à quel point les transferts institutionnels eurent un impact dans la culture politique française.     

Migration and ethnic nationalism: Anglophone exit and the ‘decolonisation’ of Québec

This article explains the effects of ethnic nationalism on Anglophone and Francophone migration. The rise of Québec ethnic nationalism in the 1960s dismantled the cultural division of labour, which created new opportunities for Francophones but threatened Anglophones' traditional dominance over the Québec economy. This had negative consequences for Anglophones but positive outcomes for Francophones, which in turn accounts for differences in migration patterns. Drawing from the internal colony model as well as migration and exit‐voice theories, and using ecological census data, micro‐census data and election panel data, I find that the key variables that increase the likelihood of Anglophone out‐migration either do not explain Francophone out‐migration or have opposite effects. This is because ethnonationalist policies decreased the economic return particularly for well‐educated, higher‐earning, professional Anglophones in Québec, while increasing the economic position of Francophones and in particular well‐educated professionals.     

Railways as a Factor of Change in the Distribution of Population in Spain, 1900–1970

Abstract

The central focus of this work is to test a new methodology to measure the impact of the railway on the distribution of population, in this case in Spain. To achieve this, it was necessary to previously integrate data relating to population and railway lines into a geographical information system. The result was a spatial database that includes population data from homogeneous census series obtained for the municipal scale and the evolution of the railway network in service at corresponding points in time. This allowed the authors to apply spatial-temporal analysis. By so doing, this work constitutes an analysis of a new methodology, as they used exploratory spatial data analysis and geographically weighted regression to detect spatial patterns and estimate the influence of the railway and distance from the coast on population change. The results obtained show that the influence of the railway was very pronounced in some areas, while in others it was just one of the factors that could explain major changes in population distribution.     

Insane Innocents: Mad Children in Benedict of Peterborough’S Miracula Sancti Thomae Cantuariensis 1

Abstract

This article discusses the setting up and operation of the Kingston Local History Project, emphasizing, in this process, the active co-operation between Kingston University and the local community. The Project aims to construct a comprehensive database on the people of Kingston between I850 and I900 and to subject the data collected to rigorous analysis. This will provide an extensive longitudinal socio-economic profile of an important market town in transition and, via techniques of record linkage, details of the life-cycles of thousands of Kingstonians. The core of the database is the decennial census enumerators’ books I85I-I89I, plus details from other sources, including parish registers and cemetery records. Data on female domestic service are then analysed to demonstrate how the database enables some important research questions to be tackled.     

The equally “bad” French and English farmers of Quebec: New TFP measures from the 1831 census

New TFP estimates drawn from the neglected census of 1831 for Lower Canada are used to test the controversial (but still dominant) traditional “poor French farmers” explanation for a prolonged economic crisis. The new evidence shows that French-speaking areas were equally as productive as English-speaking areas, something that upturns the established consensus and reinforces the minority viewpoint that culture had little to do with the crisis. Using a broad range of controls, the researchers find that this conclusion is robust and that other variables such as settlement recency, environment, and economic structure were much more significant determinants of TFP. These results warrant the abandonment of the cultural explanation and a shift toward other explanatory channels.     

SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION and EIGENFUNCTIONS OF THE GEOGRAPHIC WEIGHTS MATRIX ACCOMPANYING GEO-REFERENCED DATA

Gaining a better understanding of spatial data and a deeper meaning of spatial statistical results gleaned from geo-referenced data requires a more complete knowledge of properties of the underlying geometry. This paper addresses these two topics by further investigating important geometric features of spatial data. The importance of this work is expressed in the geographic information system literature regarding representations of geographic space, as well as various geographic literatures concerned with spatial statistical modelling. Answers to three questions are obtained here. One asks whether or not those eigenvectors associated with the three largest eigenvalues of a binary geographic weights matrix have natural interpretations. A second question asks whether or not the eigenvalues of a geographic weights matrix prove useful in understanding the sampling distribution for spatial autocorrelation in a given geographic landscape. A third question addresses the issue of spatial autocorrelation components of geo-refer-enced phenomena. The analysis summarized in this paper documents responses to these three questions. Empirical evidence is gleaned from both Canadian urban census tract data and the square tessellations of remotely sensed data. Afin ?obtenir une meilleure compréhension de données spatiales et un sens plus approfondi de résultats statistiques spatiaux découlant de données spatialisées, il faut une connaissance plus complète des propriétés de la géométrie sous-jacente. La présente étude porte sur ces deux sujets en étudiant plus avant des caractéristiques géométriques importantes des données spatiales. La pertinence de ce travail est confirmée par la littérature sur les systèmes ?information géographique concernant des représentations de ?espace géographique, ainsi que par divers courants de la littérature gégraphique portant sur la modélisation statistique spatiale. Des réponses À donneràtrois questions ont pu être obtenues dans ce travail. Tout ?abord ?on se demande si les vecteurs propres associe's aux trois plus grandes valeurs propres ?une matrice gégraphique binaire de pondération ont des interprétations naturelles. Une deuxième question portant sur les valeurs propres ?une matrice géographique de pondération concerne leur utilityé pour la compréhension de la distribution ?échantillonnage de ?auto-corrélation spatiale sur un paysage gégraphique données Une troisième question concerne le problème de la composition de ?autocorrélation spatiale présente dans des données spatialisées. L ‘analyse résumée dans la présente étude comporte des éléments de réponseaG ces trios questions. Une démonstration empirique est faite à partir de données du recensement urbain canadien à?échelle des secteurs, et à partir de la mosaïque carrée habituelle de données satellitaires. Mots-clés: Fonctions propres, Géometrie, données spatialisées, autocorrelation spatiale, statistique spatiale, partition de surfaces     

FEMALE FARMERS IN CANADA AND THE GENDER RELATIONS OF A RESTRUCTURING AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM*

Most authors who have studied family farming would agree that the role of women in agricultural production has been largely invisible. As the process of agricultural restructuring continues, the contributions made by farm women to the farming enterprise have gained greater prominence, but there are still specific groups of farming women who have been relatively under-studied. The purpose of this paper is to enhance our understanding of the characteristics and occupational experiences of Canadian female farm operators, who represent a non-traditional role for women in agricultural production. As background, the paper provides a brief overview of female farm operators and their farms, using data from the 1971, 1981, and 1986 censuses of Agriculture and Population. However, the research goes beyond the census data to examine the socially constructed realities of daily life for female farmers, using interviews with a sample of Ontario female farm operators. In particular, the contexts prompting women's entrance to this occupation are examined, as are the reasons for entrance. Furthermore, mechanisms by which the traditional gender relations of farming are maintained and reproduced are identified. Central to this is the constraint of women's access to key agricultural resources through issues related to occupational inheritance, the perceived legitimacy of women in this non-traditional role, and the ongoing processes of agrarian myth making. La plupart des auteurs qui ont étudié les fermes familiales s'accorderaient à dire que le rôle de la femme dans la production agricole a été largement passé sous silence. Avec ?on; évolution de la restructuration agricole, la contribution des femmes aux entreprises agricoles a été mise en relief. Toutefois, certains groupes spécifiques de femmes dans la production agricole sont peu eatudieas. ?on; objet de la presénte étude est ?on; améliorer notre compréhension des caractéristiques et de ?on; experience de travail des agricultrices canadiennes. Ces agricultrices tiennent un rôle non traditionnel pour des femmes impliquées dans la production agricole. De plus, la recherche fait une revue des données recueillies lors des recensements dagriculture et popula- tion en 1971, 1987 et 1986 sur les agricultrices et leurs fermes. ?on; étude va au-delà des données statistiques. Des interviews, dont une partie porte sur des agricultrices ontariennes, sont utilisées afin ?on; examiner les réalités sociales de ?on; activité quotidienne des agricultrices. Plus particulièrement, les contextes et les raisons poussant les agricultrices à choisir cette occupation sont etudiés. Les mécanismes qui engendrent et maintiennent la sociosexuation traditionnelle sont identifyées. La difficulté?on; accés des agricultrices aux ressources agricoles clés est un aspect central déterminé par la tradition farniliale, la perception de la légitimité des femmes dans cette occupation non traditionnelle, et les processus de con- struction des mythes agraires.     

Bringing the Prisoner into View: English and Welsh Census Data and the Victorian Prison Population

The 1881 England and Wales census is now available as a fully-searchable electronic file. What can this source of big data tell us about the shape of the late-Victorian prison population? This article explores how the 1881 census compares to other sources of prison population data, and examines how the census can be analysed to reveal the demographic structure of the prison population in England and Wales. We argue that the census enables us to bring breadth of information about incarcerated individuals, identifying the ‘typical’ and ‘atypical’ prisoner, to a depth of information already available through small-scale qualitative research. In doing so, census data provides both quantitative and qualitative data essential for bringing context and scale to social and personal histories of crime.     

GEOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF FERTILITY DECLINE IN GUANGDONG: CHINA'S POPULATION POLICY THROUGH THE CENSUSES OF 1982 AND 1990

Notwithstanding the intense debate on the political and ethical aspects of China's population-control policies, detailed geographical examination of their impact on fertility decline has been scarce. Recently released data from the 1990 census, together with the 1982 census information, provide an opportunity for further observations of fertility decline in a multitude of small areas throughout some of China's provinces. Due to its unique geopolitical position within China (accentuated by the recent transfer of Hong Kong, as well as the impending return of Macao to Chinese control) the particular target for this small-area analysis is the province of Guangdong. The examination presented in this study facilitates the juxtaposition of past and present population-control policies of the central government against observations of fertility decline in a continuum of small areas in this province. A comparison between 93 contiguous subareas throughout Guangdong shows that fertility decline between the two censuses has been consistent with regional development in the province, but not necessarily with a uniform application of the declared one-child population policy. As elsewhere in China, economic development in Guangdong has been linked to geographical regions singled out for economic liberties under recent reforms. In Guangdong, this linkage gives rise to a particularly simple pattern, showing fertility decline consistent with conventional topographical classification of the province. As such, the observed pattern provides a tool in the continuing discourse on the value and impact of China's population policy. Malgré les débats intenses sur les implications politiques et morales des politiques chinoises sur le contrôle de la population, très peu d'études géographiques détaillées ont été faites au sujet de l'effet de cette politique sur les baisses de natalité en Chine. Les informations récemment révélées suite au recensement de la population exécuté en 1990, ainsi que les informations recueillies lors du recensement de 1982, nous fournissent l'occasion de faire de plus amples observations de baisses de natalité dans une multitude de petites zones dans quelques unes des provinces chinoises. La province de Guangdong est une cible qui convient bien à cette analyse de petites zones, grâce à sa situation géopolitique unique, une situation qui a été renforcée par la récente restitution de Hongkong au gouvernement chinois et qui sera renforcée de plus par le retour futur de Macao. Dans cette étude, nous examinerons les politiques passées et présentes sur le contrôle de la population qui ont été effectuées par le gouvernement central, par le biais d'observations sur la chute de la natalité dans tous les petits territoires du Guangdong. A l'intérieur de cette province, une comparaison effectuée entre 93 zones limitrophes démontre que la baisse de la natalité qui a eu lieu entre le recensement de 1982 et celui de 1990, bien que liée au développement régional de cette province, n'est pas forcément la conséquence de l'application uniforme de la politique démographique déclarée de ?l'enfant unique?. Au Guangdong, comme dans d'autres régions de Chine, le développement économique a également été liéà la libéralisation de l'économie, effectuée par les réformes récemment établies dans des régions particulières. Au Guangdong, cette relation revêt d'une forme particulièrement simple, ce qui démontre les liens qui existent entre la baisse de la natalité et la classification topographique conventionnelle de cette province. En tant que telle, le pattern observé est un outil utile dans la réflexion sur la valeur et les résultats de la politique démographique chinoise.     

Spatial/temporal mismatch: a conflation protocol for Canada Census spatial files

The Canada census is one of the chief sources of demographic and socio-economic data for researchers in this country. Census variables are linked to geography files that allow researchers using geographic information systems (GIS) to view and analyze spatial data. Some of the most useful analysis, however, is based on changes in attribute values over time and space. Analysis of spatio- temporal events such as shifting migration patterns or changes in the distribution of health status permits a more dimensioned perspective than the viewing of static spatial phenomena. The analysis of spatio-temporal phenomena is limited by major changes in the spatial framework (e.g., location of road networks and other spatial entities) between national censuses. This paper addresses this limitation by (i) illustrating the extent of spatial mismatch between the 1996 and the 2001 census; (ii) examining attempts to rectify this problem in other jurisdictions and (iii) presenting a 'made-in-Canada' solution for conflation of census geometries. We believe that this solution will enhance the ability of Canadian researchers to describe and analyze socio-economic, health and demographic shifts across time and space. The research is supported by an ftp site for downloading the census geography rectification software presented in this paper.     

Gibrat Revisited: An Urban Growth Model Incorporating Spatial Interaction and Innovation Cycles. 再评吉尔布瑞特：顾及空间相互作用和创新周期的城市增长模型

We designed a geographical model for simulating the distribution of urban growth in systems of cities. The model incorporates the hierarchical and spatial diffusion of innovation cycles through gravitational interactions within a set of cities. Using theoretical simulations, we demonstrate that this model is able to reproduce the observed properties of urban systems for the log‐normal distribution of city sizes as well as the observed distribution of growth rates. Our experimentation was performed on a large harmonized historical database that includes a few hundred French urban agglomerations between 1831 and 1999 (Pumain‐INED database). Both spatial interaction and innovation cycles are necessary ingredients to explain the evolution of urban hierarchies. We suggest that Gibrat's generic stochastic growth model based on independent entities should be replaced by a more relevant model of spatially and temporally interdependent geographical entities.     

Exploring Relationships Between the Global and Regional Measures of Spatial Autocorrelation

Abstract The objective of this research is to investigate dimensions of geographic variation in spatial dependency contained within large multilevel data sets. We calculate 1990 population density by census block group, county, and state for the 48 coterminous states and the District of Columbia of the United States, calculations of interest to a wide variety of spatial scientists. We explore relations between these levels and their variation across the nation. The empirical findings generated by this work furnish implications concerning the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP), spatial autocorrelation statistics, scale effects, and resolution.     

Constructing the scaffolding: the National Census and the English landed gentry family in the Victorian period

Abstract

The family is the fundamental unit of society and was an important focus for identity, affection and sociability amongst landed élites. Historians of landed society have generally been reticent about studying the gentry family in any depth. This has been partly due to a general reliance on published biographical and genealogical sources as well as a focus on the estate rather than the family in archival material. A more fundamental understanding of gentry society will require greater levels and depths of knowledge relating to the structure and relationships of the family. In order to achieve this on a broad and representative scale new sources and methodologies will be required. This article provides an evaluation of the census enumerator's books as a source for studying landed society and suggests a number of avenues for future research.