David Reher

Precios y salarios en Castilla la Nueva: La construccion de un índice de salarios reales, 1501–1991

Using published and unpublished data, mainly taken from the center of Spain and especially from Madrid, annual series of prices, wages and real wages between 1501 and 1991 have been constructed. A detailed explanation is given of the sources and procedures used in die construction of the series, and the reliability of the different adjustments is evaluated. The resulting time series clearly portray the medium and long-term trends of prices and wages in the center of Spain. When compared with English data, similar trends emerge.

Symptoms, menopause status, and country differences: a comparative analysis from Dames

Objective:To investigate reported frequencies of menopausal symptoms among women in four countries, namely Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, and the United States, and to assess the relative role of menopause status, country of residence, and other factors in explaining differences in symptomatology. Design:Surveys of representative samples of approximately 300 women aged 45 to 55 years in each site were conducted, using an instrument that includes demographic, health, and menopausal variables, in addition to perceptions and attitudes toward menopause. Statistical and textual analyses are used to examine differentials and the factors that influence them. Results:The burden of symptoms and the frequencies of symptoms differ across sites, but hot flashes are reported everywhere by just under one half of the respondents. The most frequent symptoms are joint pain, fatigue, impatience/nervousness, sleep disturbances, memory loss, and one or more emotional symptoms. Menopause status is significantly associated with hot flashes and vasomotor symptoms and to a lesser extent with emotional and sexual symptoms. Smoking, schooling, employment, and age are also associated with the frequency of selected symptoms. Country of residence influences reported symptoms over and above other factors. Conclusions:Similarities among core symptoms and differences in the expression of symptoms were found across sites. Both biological (menopause status) and cultural (country of residence) variables influence symptomatology.

Internal Migration Patterns of Foreign‐Born Immigrants in a Country of Recent Mass Immigration: Evidence from New Micro Data for Spain

This paper extends the literature on the internal migration patterns of the foreign-born by analyzing the situation in Spain, a country affected by recent but very significant migratory flows. We utilize a standard theoretical framework in order to assess the relative importance of human capital, economic, and social capital indicators. To this end, we take advantage of a new micro database, the National Immigrant Survey (Encuesta National de Inmigrantes – ENI-2007). Our findings suggest that the main theories explaining internal migration patterns of the foreign-born are at least partly true. Evidence is presented in support of the importance of education and knowledge of the native language, income, and networks based on the sharing of social capital among family members, though less so for those based on friends and acquaintances. Spanish citizenship and employment status seem to be less important in explaining the propensity to move within the country. We argue that the lack of significance of some indicators is due mainly to the fact that Spain has become a major destination only very recently as well as to the way different immigrant groups tend to implement strategies for promotion and integration.

Environmental contexts of menopause in Spain : comparative results from recent research

Objective:This study had two main objectives: (1) to detect the differences in basic aspects of the reproductive aging process (age at menopause, menopausal symptoms, the medicalization of aging) among women from the region of Madrid, who at the time of the study were living in three different environmental contexts (rural, semiurban, and urban), and (2) to identify the main factors responsible for these differences. Design:Data from two different research projects have been pooled for the DAMES project (Decesions At Menopause Study), and the Ecology of Reproductive Aging Project. The sample size was 1,142, women 45 to 55 years of age (103 rural, 744 semiurban, 295 urban). Results:Probit analysis was used to estimate median age at natural menopause in the three contexts. Rural women have a later onset of menopause (rural, 52.07 y; semiurban, 51.9 y; urban, 51.23 y) and significantly higher levels of the symptoms related to declines in estrogen, eg, hot flashes (rural, 56%; semiurban, 43%; urban, 46%; &khgr;2 = 6.717, P = 0.035) or loss of sexual desire (rural, 51%; semiurban, 44%; urban, 41%; &khgr;2 = 24.934, P = 0.001). Conversely, urban women suffer more from symptoms related to stress, eg, impatience (rural, 34%; semiurban, 25%; urban, 45%; &khgr;2 = 41.328, P < 0.001). The medicalization of menopause, measured in terms of both surgical menopause and the use of hormone therapy, is significantly higher in the urban population (surgical menopause: rural, 5.8%; semiurban, 8.7; urban, 10%; &khgr;2 = 16.009, P < 0.001). Despite these differences, levels of postmenopausal hormone therapy use are still somewhat lower than in other West European and North American populations. Two different logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify (1) factors associated with differences in ovarian aging, measured through menopausal status, and (2) factors associated with prevalence of hot flashes with respect to ovarian aging. Parity, body mass index, age, environmental context, and, slightly less so, smoking, alcohol consumption, age at menarche, and marital status all contribute significantly or nearly significantly and independently to the explanation of differences found. For the likelihood of having hot flashes, environmental context, age, education, age at menarche, menopausal status, and postmenopausal hormone therapy use all have a significant or borderline significant effect. Conclusions:Significant differences have been shown to exist in rural, semiurban and urban settings in the median age at menopause, in basic symptom frequency and type, and in the levels of medicalization of the process of reproductive aging. Within multivariate regression models, it has been shown that body mass index, age, and environmental context all contribute to differences in reproductive aging. The factors associated with ovarian aging and hot flashes are comparable to those in other industrialized populations, although standard interpretations should be expanded to include context-based realties, including (1) the higher levels of modernization of urban women that influence differential behavior with respect to risk factors at menopausal age; (2) the different ecological realities surrounding nutrition, physical activity, and social support that characterize womens period of development; and (3) the differential construction of their identity as women in terms of assertiveness, aesthetic perceptions, and the use of health services. Context does, indeed, matter.

Back to the basics: mortality and fertility interactions during the demographic transition.

In this article I will present a dynamic context for the analysis of mortality and fertility in the course of the demographic transition based on the experience of a sizeable sample of rural parishes taken from the central part of Spain.... The analysis can be couched in purely dynamic terms taking into account the timing and intensity of changes in both mortality and fertility and evaluating the ways in which they affect each other.... By taking the data from a specific though large sample of villages we can see local variations relatively uncluttered with much of the cultural social and economic heterogeneity which dogs studies based on very large levels of aggregation. (EXCERPT)

Marriage Patterns in Spain, 1887-1930

Spain displays the greatest diversity of marriage patterns of any European country. This analysis of provincial data considers both the timing of marriage and celibacy from 1887 to 1930. As expected, demographic and economic factors, such as the marriage market and population density, exerted a substantial influence on nuptiality. Cultural patterns, represented here by inheritance practices, also played a pivotal role. Intense nuptiality can be found in areas of high mortality, partible inheritance, balanced marriage markets, moderate out-migration by both sexes, low population density, and professions which facilitated marriage.

Do parents really matter? Child health and development in Spain during the demographic transition

Linked life histories of children and of their parents living in Aranjuez (Spain) between 1870 and 1950 are used to assess the health and well-being of children in terms of the survival status of their parents. The loss of a mother leads to dramatic increases in the mortality of young children, especially during the first 2 years of life, while the loss of a father has a rather limited negative impact. Over time the relative importance of the loss of a mother increases sharply, thus affording strong, albeit indirect, evidence of their role for mortality reduction during the demographic transition. Heights of military conscripts are used to assess other elements of health unrelated to survival. Results suggest that orphans were noticeably shorter than non-orphans. Over time this effect diminishes thanks to increasingly effective public assistance for orphans.

Intergenerational Transmission of Reproductive Traits in Spain during the Demographic Transition

In this paper intergenerational dimensions of reproductive behavior are studied within the context of the experience of a mid-sized Spanish town just before and during the demographic transition. Different indicators of reproduction are used in bivariate and multivariate approaches. Fertility shows a small, often statistically significant intergenerational dimension, with stronger effects working through women and their mothers than those stemming from the families of their husbands. These effects are materialized mainly through duration-related fertility variables, are singularly absent for variables such as age at first birth or birth intervals, and are much stronger in the case of firstborn daughters than with later siblings. There is a substantial increase in the strength of intergenerational effects during the course of the demographic transition, most visible in age at last birth and duration of reproduction (between women and their mothers), as well as in the effects working through the families of their husbands. These results underscore the on-going importance of biological dimensions of reproduction as well as the way attitudes toward reproduction are taught within the family. The changes identified in this study suggest that the transmission of values and attitudes became more important for reproductive outcomes during this period of demographic modernization.

Mortality and economic development over the course of modernization: an analysis of short-run fluctuations in Spain, 1850-1990.

Distributed lag models are used to explore the issue of the importance of economic factors for demographic performance over the course of the demographic and economic modernization of Spain. Mortality indicators are generated by age, sex, and cause and are assessed in terms of shifts in Gross Domestic Product. During the pre-transitional period, links between mortality and economic performance were simultaneous and rather weak but in the expected direction, declining to near 0 by the beginning of the twentieth century. Afterwards the importance of economic shifts for mortality fluctuations increased dramatically and delayed effects began to predominate, only disappearing after 1950. The paper explains the increase in the importance of economic factors and the change in the lag structure in terms of the greater economic volatility of the 1915-1950 period, the progressive implantation of more efficient public health systems and their sensitivity to economic fluctuations, and improving levels of nutrition and general health.

Producción, precios e integración de los mercados regionales de grano en la España preindustrial

The present paper deals with regional grain market integration in Spain during the Old Regime. Using mostly published price and production series, the author employs straightforward statistical techniques, ranging from correlations and standard deviations of detrended series to distributed lag models. These techniques show the existence of a clear covariation in the price of grain on different regional markets, as well as both simultaneous and delayed effects of grain production on prices both locally and at considerably greater distances. The author concludes that regional grain markets on the peninsula were modestly but increasingly integrated over the period, especially during the eighteenth century, and that existing institutions were a partial buffer for the immediate effects of harvest failures. The paper concludes by suggesting the potential timing for the progressive intergration of grain markets taking place throughout much of the nineteenth century in Spain.