Longer lives and fertility far below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman are leading to rapid population aging in many countries. Many observers are concerned that aging will adversely affect public finances and standards of living. Analysis of newly available National Transfer Accounts data for 40 countries shows that fertility well above replacement would typically be most beneficial for government budgets. However, fertility near replacement would be most beneficial for standards of living when the analysis includes the effects of age structure on families as well as governments. And fertility below replacement would maximize per capita consumption when the cost of providing capital for a growing labor force is taken into account. While low fertility will indeed challenge government programs and very low fertility undermines living standards, we find that moderately low fertility and population decline favor the broader material standard of living

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A new type of approach to prehistoric chert sourcing using both geology and geochemistry is introduced and illustrated by a study conducted in northwestern Alaska. Correlation of each chert artifact with its geological source is based on the idea that both the artifact and its source have identical geologic history characterized by unique petrological and geochemical signatures. A regional database of the petrological and geochemical signatures for each chert source is constructed and artifacts from prehistoric sites located in the region are then compared to the database to determine artifact source. Data are obtained by instrumental neutron activation analysis, electron microprobe analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, optical microscopy, and hand specimen study. Immobile elements provide depositional environment and provenance signatures (Al, Ce n /Ce n *, La n /Ce n , and Eu n /Sm n ) for artifact-outcrop correlation. Minerals and mobile elements provide diagenetic and metamorphic signatures as well as signatures related to local variability which discriminate outcrops belonging to the same stratigraphic units. Artifacts are correlated with outcrops by superimposing their chemical data on geochemical fields of outcrops obtained by descriptive statistics at 1, 2, and 3 standard deviations from the means. Two hundred eighty-nine artifacts from 57 prehistoric sites were compared with 12 chert varieties sampled in nine outcrops in the western Brooks Range. Four outcrops were firmly correlated with 51 artifacts and determined as prehistoric chert quarries. Sourcing resulted in maps of geographic and cultural distribution of quarry cherts among prehistoric sites in northwestern Alaska. The geological-geochemical approach to prehistoric chert sourcing is applicable to any region. ᭧

Using aggregate time-series data from post-war Hungary, we investigated the effect of child-related benefits and pensions on overall fertility and fertility by birth order. The results indicate moderate effects that are robust across a wide range of specifications. According to our estimates, a 1-per-cent increase in childrelated benefits would increase total fertility by 0.2 per cent, while the same increase in pensions would decrease fertility by 0.2 per cent. The magnitude of both effects increases by birth order; this is more robust for child-related benefits.

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