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The Lexis diagram, a misnomer

Author

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  • Christophe Vandeschrick

    (Université catholique de Louvain)

Abstract

Around 1870, demographers felt the need for a simple chart to present population dynamics. This chart is known as the Lexis diagram, but it is a misnomer. To be useful, this chart must allow for the systematic location on one plane of the three classical demographic co-ordinates, namely: the date, the age and the moment of birth. There are three solutions for this problem. In 1869, Zeuner worked out a first solution. In 1870, Brasche proposed a second one with networks of parallels; it is the version most currently used now. In 1874, Becker proposed the third one. In 1875, certainly after Verwey, Lexis took back the Zeuner’s diagram and just added networks of parallels. In spite of all this, the name "Lexis diagram" has imposed itself in a seemingly invincible way.

Suggested Citation

  • Christophe Vandeschrick, 2001. "The Lexis diagram, a misnomer," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 4(3), pages 97-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:4:y:2001:i:3
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2001.4.3
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    Cited by:

    1. Jorge Cimentada & Sebastian Kluesener & Tim Riffe, 2020. "Exploring the demographic history of populations with enhanced Lexis surfaces," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 42(6), pages 149-164.
    2. Mouchart, Michel & Orsi, Renzo & Russo, Federica & Wunsch, Guillaume, 2020. "Time and Causality in the Social Sciences," LIDAM Discussion Papers ISBA 2020022, Université catholique de Louvain, Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics and Actuarial Sciences (ISBA).
    3. Cimentada, Jorge & Klüsener, Sebastian & Riffe, Tim, 2019. "Exploring the Demographic History of Populations with Enhanced Lexis Surfaces," SocArXiv hxy7d, Center for Open Science.
    4. Timothy Riffe & Jonas Schöley & Francisco Villavicencio, 2015. "A unified framework of demographic time," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2015-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Juliana Bidadanure, 2016. "Making sense of age-group justice," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 15(3), pages 234-260, August.
    6. Jonas Schöley & Frans Willekens, 2017. "Visualizing compositional data on the Lexis surface," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(21), pages 627-658.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    history; Lexis diagram;

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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