Overview
Alexia Prskawetz is a mathematical demographer and economist at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and affiliated with the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID). Her research spans fertility-employment interactions, agent-based demographic modeling, population aging, and intergenerational transfers. She has been a leading figure in European demographic research on the determinants of low fertility and has also contributed to mortality forecasting methodology, including empirical tests of the Lee-Carter model's parameter stability.
Key Contributions
- Carter and Prskawetz (2001): "Examining Structural Shifts in Mortality Using the Lee-Carter Method." MPIDR Working Paper WP 2001-007. Extended LC by fitting 30 rolling 24-year SVD submatrices to Austrian mortality data 1947–1999; empirically demonstrated that b_x is NOT stable over time (pre-1970: improvement at young/middle ages; post-1970: at old ages). Structural shift ~1968. Extended LC improves e_0 fit by ~0.3 years for females and substantially for e_60. Base-period sensitivity: +3.5 years for males by 2050 (full series vs. 1976–1999 subsample). See Lee-Carter Model.
- Engelhardt and Prskawetz (2004): "On the Changing Correlation Between Fertility and Female Employment over the Last Few Decades in Europe." European Journal of Population 20(1): 35–62. Cross-country descriptive study of TFR-FLP correlation reversal across 21 OECD countries; identifies "neither-work-nor-children" trap in Mediterranean countries. See Fertility-Employment Correlation.
- Engelhardt, Kögel, and Prskawetz (2004): Population Studies 58(1): 109–120. Error-correction model confirming negative within-country TFR-FLP cointegration throughout 1960–2000, independent of the cross-sectional sign reversal.
- Broader research agenda on agent-based modeling of fertility decisions, population aging and labor markets in Europe, and the role of social norms in demographic transitions.
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