Laboratory

Population Dynamics and Sustainable Well-Being

At a Glance Projects Publications Team

Detailed Description

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The overarching goal of this laboratory is to monitor, understand, and predict the factors that shape people’s well-being across space, time, and demographic characteristics, and as they relate to population change and sustainable development.

We focus on aspects of people’s well-being that are intimately interconnected with population dynamics. At its most fundamental level, well-being cannot be achieved without preserving life as we age. However, survival alone is not enough. Maintaining good health, having networks of support and exchange that include family and friends, enjoying financial stability, as well as having a sustainable relationship with the natural environment are key elements for people’s continued well-being over the life course and across generations. These elements go beyond single individuals: Micro-level outcomes for people are highly inter-dependent with macro-level population dynamics.

We advance knowledge and generate new discoveries by: (i) combining, in creative ways, state-of-the-art demographic, statistical, and computational methods; (ii) leveraging novel data sources that have been generated as part of the digital and computational revolution; and (iii) developing new forms of data collection and simulation models to complement existing traditional resources.

We approach our goals by concentrating on four main inter-connected research areas:

• Health and Mortality
• Transfers and Economic Fairness
• Digitalization and Inequalities
• Population and Environment

As we pursue our scientific goals, we aim at generating discoveries, unveiling mechanisms, and producing sound and evidence-based research that is valid and beneficial for populations in both high-income and low- and middle-income countries.