Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 BC?

Diego Comin, William Easterly and Erick Gong ()

American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2010, vol. 2, issue 3, 65-97

Abstract: We assemble a dataset on technology adoption in 1000 bc, 0 ad, and 1500 AD for the predecessors to today's nation states. Technological differences are surprisingly persistent over long periods of time. Our most interesting, strong, and robust results are for the association of 1500 AD technology with per capita income and technology adoption today. We also find robust and significant technological persistence from 1000 BC to 0 AD, and from 0 AD to 1500 AD. The evidence is consistent with a model where the cost of adopting new technologies declines sufficiently with the current level of adoption. (JEL N10, O33, O47)

JEL-codes: N10 O33 O47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.2.3.65
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (214)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 B.C.? (2008)
Working Paper: Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 B.C.? (2006)
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