New Strategies to Explore First Demographic Transition in Austria
New Strategies to Explore First Demographic Transition in Austria

Summary/Abstract: GAFP (Graz Austrian Fertility Project, funded by Austrian Science Fund, 2009-2012, P 21157-G15) investigates the processes occurring within First Demographic Transition in Eastern and South Eastern Austria from 1869 to 1937, including the Austrian Crownlands of Lower Austria (incl. Vienna), Styria (incl. Slovenian regions), Carinthia, Carniola, Gorizia/Primorska, Trieste , Istria and the (Hungarian) Burgenland until 1918 and the Austrian provinces of Vienna, Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia and the Burgenland until 1937. This area in Central Europe, situated alongside Hajnal-line, still is less considered in comparison to the research on other European regions, especially in the more West or in the North of the continent. The main strategies are to consider a low aggregated spatial level (Political Districts) first and second interdependencies among different structural factors like occupational issues, taxes, savings, agricultural ecotype, illiteracy etc. and demographic factors (fertility, mortality and morbidity, nuptiality, migration). On the one hand there do exist some local studies, but they are heavily comparable, because of the spatial distances and due to the fact, that on this low level only a few structural data are available. On the other hand PEFP (Princeton European Fertility Project) and other studies have considered only higher aggregated levels like Crownlands and provinces. Howsoever, there did exist heavy systemic and structural differences between smaller regions within these Crownlands and provinces, which obviously have influenced demographic processes massively. This paper will present basic, micro-regional oriented, multivariate results (from cluster analysis) and concepts of assessing fertility in a micro-spatial context from GAFP.

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