The Macrogenoeconomics of Comparative Development

Quamrul Ashraf and Oded Galor

No 10474, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The importance of evolutionary forces for comparative economic performance across societies has been the focus of a vibrant literature, highlighting the roles played by the Neolithic Revolution and the prehistoric "out of Africa" migration of anatomically modern humans in generating worldwide variations in the composition of human traits. This essay surveys this literature and examines the contribution of a recent hypothesis regarding the evolutionary origins of comparative economic development, set forth in Nicholas Wade's A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History, to this important line of research.

Keywords: genes; natural selection; human evolution; comparative development; race; the "out of Africa" hypothesis; genetic diversity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N10 N30 O11 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2017-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-evo and nep-his
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published - published in: Journal of Economic Literature 2018, 56 (3), 1119–1155

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https://docs.iza.org/dp10474.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Macrogenoeconomics of Comparative Development (2018)
Working Paper: The Macrogenoeconomics of Comparative Development (2018)
Working Paper: The Macrogenoeconomics of Comparative Development (2017)
Working Paper: The Macrogenoeconomics of Comparative Development (2017)
Working Paper: The Macrogenoeconomics of Comparative Development (2017)
Working Paper: The Macrogenoeconomics of Comparative Development (2016)
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