The RAND Population Matters project is pleased to announce the publication
of Dire Demographics: Population Trends in the Russian Federation, by Julie
DaVanzo and Clifford Grammich. This report, written for a general audience,
reviews available statistics on population trends in the Russian Federation
and interpretation of their implications. In reviewing this work, Cynthia
Buckley of the University of Texas praised it for “provid[ing] the opportunity
for individuals without any specific background to quickly gain a grounded
understanding of the complex demographic processes at work and [for] present[ing]
a comprehensive English-language bibliography for those interested in pursuing
further reading.” Sergei V. Zakharov of the Center for Demography and Human
Ecology at the Russian Academy of Science noted in his review of the document
that “the authors’ style is easy to understand for a wide audience . .
. [their] conclusions are always formulated clearly.”
We would greatly appreciate an announcement on the Johnson Russia List
of publication of this work. Interested readers may view its PDF files
at http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1273. Hard copies of the manuscript
may also be ordered for free direct from the RAND web page. In coming weeks,
the Population Matters project will be publishing three policy briefs on
this manuscript, summarizing overall research points and implications as
well as those specifically related to abortion and contraception and to
health and mortality. I will notify you when these are available.
The Population Matters project seeks to synthesize and communicate the
findings and implications of existing research in ways that policy analysts
and others will find accessible. For further information on the project
and its publications, readers may visit our web site, http://www.rand.org/popmatters.
Thank you for your consideration. Please let Julie DaVanzo (julie@rand.org)
or myself (grammich@rand.org) know if you have any questions about this
work or the Population Matters project.