The Diffusion of Development: Along Genetic or Geographic Lines?

Douglas Campbell and Ju Hyun Pyun

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Why are some peoples still poor? Recent research suggests that a society’s “genetic distance”—a measure of the time elapsed since two populations had common ancestry—to 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: Genetics; Economic Development; Geography; Climatic Similarity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 O33 O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-geo, nep-gro and nep-his
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Related works:
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:pra:mprapa:57933

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