World Population Program

Human population trends are a key factor in sustainable development. We study and project how the changing composition of population matters for social, economic and the environmental change and how human health and well-being are being affected. 
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Human population matters for sustainable development in two important ways.

First, it is an agent of change, bringing about many of the  environmental, economic, and social changes that continually challenge the sustainability of our current development paths.

Second, the human population and its living conditions are the ultimate objects of development, with long-term human survival, health and well-being serving as criteria for judging whether or not development is sustainable.

Since the early days of IIASA, the World Population Program (POP) has conducted research into both the determinants and consequences of population trends at the global, regional, national and sub-national levels.

While POP has a firm foundation in formal demography, its research has greatly benefited from the interdisciplinary setting at IIASA, which  been a constant stimulus to look beyond demographic boundaries at "the whole picture" relating to human population. 

Interdisciplinary working allows researchers not only to look at the effect of a number of alternative future population trends but also how changes in society, economy, and the natural environment influence the health and mortality, migratory patterns, and reproductive behavior of human society.


Featured Publications

Kaufmann E, Goujon A, Skirbekk V (2012)

American political affiliation, 2003-43: A cohort component projection

Population Studies, 66(1):53-67 (March 2012) (Published online 8 November 2011) More

Skirbekk V, Loichinger E, Weber D (2012)

Variation in cognitive functioning as a refined approach to comparing aging across countries

PNAS, 109(3):770-774 (17 January 2012) (Published online 19 December 2011) More

Scherbov S, Lutz W, Sanderson WC (2011)

The uncertain timing of reaching 8 billion, peak world population, and other demographic milestones

Population and Development Review, 37(3):571-578 (September 2011) (Published online 2 September 2011) More

Sobotka T, Skirbekk V, Philipov D (2011)

Economic recession and fertility in the developed world

Population and Development Review, 37(2):267-306 (June 2011) (Published online 22 June 2011) More

Lutz W, KC S (2011)

Global human capital: Integrating education and population

Science, 333(6042):587-592 (29 July 2011) More



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Last edited: 28 January 2013

CONTACT DETAILS

Wolfgang Lutz

Program Leader World Population

T +43(0) 2236 807 294

CONTACT DETAILS

Katja Scherbov

Administrative Assistant: Research Group World Population

T +43(0) 2236 807 280

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313

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