Heterogeneity and Productivity

Quamrul Ashraf, Oded Galor and Marc Klemp

No 2015-4, Working Papers from Brown University, Department of Economics

Abstract: This research explores the effects of within-group heterogeneity on group-level productivity. It establishes that observed genetic diversity of 230 worldwide ethnic groups, as well as predicted genetic diversity of 1,331 ethnic groups across the globe, has a hump-shaped effect on economic prosperity, reflecting the trade-off between the beneficial and the detrimental effects of diversity on productivity. Moreover, the study demonstrates that variations in within-ethnic-group genetic diversity across ethnic groups contribute to ethnic and thus regional variation in economic development within a country.

Keywords: Heterogeneity; Regional Development; Out-of-Africa Hypothesis; Comparative Development; Genetic Diversity; Nighttime Light Intensity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff, nep-evo and nep-gro
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bro:econwp:2015-4

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