Age-Period-Cohort Analysis

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Directions for Future Research and Conclusion

10.1 Introduction

Rates of disease, vital status, and social measurements arrayed over time by age or cohorts are canonical organizations of data in demographic, epidemiologic, and social research. A vast literature over the past four decades has used conventional linear accounting/multiple classification models and statistical methodology for age-period-cohort (APC) analysis. In this context, different solutions to the model identification problem often produced ambiguous and inconsistent results and ignited continuous, never-ending debates on whether any solutions exist or which solutions are better. Controversies that have appeared in the literature have been exacerbated by the inadequacy ...