Abstract # 1

Nazio, Tiziana. Globalization as a structured diffusion process: the spread of consensual union across time and space (together with Hans-Peter Blossfeld and Erik Klijzing). In: Globalife Working Paper Series, No. 06, Faculty of Sociology, University of Bielefeld (forthcoming).

In this paper the process of diffusion of consensual unions as first partnerships in East and West Germany is studied. The paper examines the mechanisms and speed through which the behavior of non-marital cohabitation has spread in Germany in recent years. One of the significant influences is previous cohorts’ behavior. The other is the adoption rate by which individuals’ own cohorts are affected. These effects change in size when individuals are leaving the educational system (becoming more sensitive to the influence of previous cohort experiences) and eventually become unemployed (becoming more sensitive to the influence of their own cohort experiences).