Structural and cultural synergisms in successive behavioral innovations: a comparative analysis of two demographic transitions in the regions of Spain and Belgium, 1880-2010

Ron J. Lesthaeghe, University of Michigan and University of California, Irvine
Antonio López-Gay, Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics (CED)

The paper presents a long term spatial analysis of fertility and family formation patterns from the “First” to the “Second demographic transition” (FDT and SDT) in Spanish provinces and Belgian arrondissements. Use is made of structural and cultural determinants that attempt to operationalize the Coale preconditions for demographic innovations (Ready, Willing & Able or RWA- framework). The following issues are addressed: historical continuities and discontinuities, the disjunction of the postponement and the non-conformist components of the SDT, and the role of regional subcultures in the creation of spatial demographic heterogeneity. The comparison of the two countries illustrate that the RWA-framework remains as powerful a tool for understanding the SDT as it was for the historical FDT.