The Diffusion of Development

Enrico Spolaore and Romain Wacziarg

The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2009, vol. 124, issue 2, 469-529

Abstract: We find that genetic distance, a measure associated with the time elapsed since two populations' last common ancestors, has a statistically and economically significant effect on income differences across countries, even controlling for measures of geographical distance, climatic differences, transportation costs, and measures of historical, religious, and linguistic distance. We provide an economic interpretation of these findings in terms of barriers to the diffusion of development from the world technological frontier, implying that income differences should be a function of relative genetic distance from the frontier. The empirical evidence strongly supports this barriers interpretation.

Date: 2009
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Related works:
Working Paper: The Diffusion of Development (2007)
Working Paper: The Diffusion of Development (2006)
Working Paper: The Diffusion of Development (2006)
Working Paper: The Diffusion of Development (2006)
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