Multidimensional Global Demographic Convergence of the European populations

We want to measure the global demographic convergence of the European population towards a common pattern from a multidimensional point of view. Global demographic convergence is the focus of the demographic transition theory. We observe k variables on n European populations across time (from 1960 to 2005). For every year considered, we apply a suitable absolute variability index on each of the k variables (each with n observations). For a fixed variable, if the variability is low this means that the European populations converge towards the common profile. Conversely, if the variability is high, this means that the populations are quite different from each other as well as compared with the common pattern. Then, assuming that the k variables are independent, we define an absolute global variability index by averaging the absolute variability indices . Specifically, we propose two alternative solutions: weighted or unweighted average. The proposed index measures the average distance of the European populations from the common profile. In aim to evaluate the degree of the convergence, we apply a linear normalization procedure to the absolute global variability index. The results show that the European populations converge towards the common pattern but the convergence is slower if we consider also the eastern populations