Spatial profiles in the analysis of event histories: an application to first sexual intercourse in Italy
✍ Scribed by Billari, Francesco C. ;Borgoni, Riccardo
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2002
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 412 KB
- Volume
- 8
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1077-3495
- DOI
- 10.1002/ijpg.262
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
The aim of this paper is mainly methodological using individual‐level retrospective data from the Italian Fertility and Family Survey. Linking individual‐level data with geographical characteristics of the community, we firstly used non‐parametric methods, and in particular the bi‐dimensional LOESS (locally weighted regression) method, to build smoothed maps of the transition to first sexual intercourse. Secondly, we used a discrete‐time multilevel event‐history model (with logit specification), allowing for the presence of unobserved heterogeneity at the municipality level. We used ‘latitude’, ‘longitude’, and dimension of the municipality as aggregate‐level explanatory variables in the model. Thus, we could build spatial profiles and a map, using predicted values for the log‐odds‐ratio, and we could also study cohort dynamics. Our results confirm that Italy is a heterogeneous country; when looking at age at the first sexual intercourse, women are more influenced by their context than men. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.