A Bayesian Reconstruction of a Historical Population in Finland, 1647–1850.

This article provides a novel method for estimating historical population development. We review the previous literature on historical population time-series estimates and propose a general outline to address the well-known methodological problems. We use a Bayesian hierarchical time-series model th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Demography (Springer Nature) Vol. 57; no. 3; pp. 1171 - 1193
Main Authors: Voutilainen, Miikka, Helske, Jouni, Högmander, Harri
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Jun2020
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:This article provides a novel method for estimating historical population development. We review the previous literature on historical population time-series estimates and propose a general outline to address the well-known methodological problems. We use a Bayesian hierarchical time-series model that allows us to integrate the parish-level data set and prior population information in a coherent manner. The procedure provides us with model-based posterior intervals for the final population estimates. We demonstrate its applicability by estimating the long-term development of Finland's population from 1647 onward and simultaneously place the country among the very few to have an annual population series of such length available.