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Spolaore, Enrico and Wacziarg, Romain (2013) Long-term barriers to economic development. Working Paper. Coventry, UK: Department of Economics, University of Warwick. CAGE Online Working Paper Series, Volume 2013 (Number 149).
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Text (Working paper)
WRAP_149-spolaore.pdf - Published Version Download (582Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/resear...
Abstract
What obstacles prevent the most productive technologies from spreading to less developed
economies from the world’s technological frontier? In this paper, we seek to shed light on this
question by quantifying the geographic and human barriers to the transmission of technologies.
We argue that the intergenerational transmission of human traits, particularly culturally trans-
mitted traits, has led to divergence between populations over the course of history. In turn, this
divergence has introduced barriers to the diffusion of technologies across societies. We provide
measures of historical and genealogical distances between populations, and document how such
distances, relative to the world’s technological frontier, act as barriers to the diffusion of devel-
opment and of specific innovations. We provide an interpretation of these results in the context
of an emerging literature seeking to understand variation in economic development as the result
of factors rooted deep in history.
| Item Type: | Working or Discussion Paper (Working Paper) |
|---|---|
| Alternative Title: | |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform T Technology > T Technology (General) |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Technological innovations -- Demographic aspects -- Developing countries , Technological innovations -- Developing countries -- History, Developing countries -- Economic conditions -- 21st century, Technological innovations -- Developing countries -- Economic aspects |
| Series Name: | CAGE Online Working Paper Series |
| Publisher: | Department of Economics, University of Warwick |
| Place of Publication: | Coventry, UK |
| Official Date: | August 2013 |
| Volume: | Volume 2013 |
| Number: | Number 149 |
| Number of Pages: | 66 |
| Status: | Not Peer Reviewed |
| Publication Status: | Published |
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