The Diffusion of Development: Along Genetic or Geographic Lines?

Douglas Campbell and Ju Hyun Pyun

No w0211, Working Papers from Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR)

Abstract: Why are some societies still poor? Recent research suggests that a country’s “genetic distance”—a measure of the time elapsed since two populations had common ancestry—from the United States is a significant predictor of development even after controlling for an ostensibly exhaustive list of geographic, historical, religious and linguistic variables. We find, by contrast, that the correlation of genetic distance from the US and GDP per capita disappears with the addition of controls for geography, including distance from the equator and a dummy for sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: Genetic Distance; Economic Development; Geography; Climatic Similarity; Technological Diffusion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 O33 O49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18 pages
Date: 2014-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-geo, nep-gro and nep-his
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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http://www.cefir.ru/papers/WP211.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Diffusion of Development: Along Genetic or Geographic Lines? (2017)
Working Paper: The Diffusion of Development: Along Genetic or Geographic Lines? (2014)
Working Paper: The Diffusion of Development: Along Genetic or Geographic Lines? (2014)
Working Paper: The Diffusion of Development: Along Genetic or Geographic Lines? (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cfr:cefirw:w0211

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