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The 'Out of Africa' Hypothesis, Human Genetic Diversity, and Comparative Economic Development

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  • Quamrul Ashraf
  • Oded Galor

Abstract

This research advances and empirically establishes the hypothesis that, in the course of the prehistoric exodus of Homo sapiens out of Africa, variation in migratory distance to various settlements across the globe affected genetic diversity and has had a persistent hump-shaped effect on comparative economic development, reflecting the trade-off between the beneficial and the detrimental effects of diversity on productivity. While the low diversity of Native American populations and the high diversity of African populations have been detrimental for the development of these regions, the intermediate levels of diversity associated with European and Asian populations have been conducive for development. (JEL N10, N30, N50, O10, O50, Z10)

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Review.

Volume (Year): 103 (2013)
Issue (Month): 1 (February)
Pages: 1-46

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Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:103:y:2013:i:1:p:1-46

Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.1.1
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Citations

Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. Genetic Diversity and Economic Development
    by Jason Collins in Evolving Economics on 2012-09-12 10:34:43
  2. A week of links
    by Jason Collins in Evolving Economics on 2013-02-01 12:05:08
  3. The ‘Out of Africa’ Hypothesis, Human Genetic Diversity, and Comparative Economic Development
    by Jason Collins in Evolving Economics on 2013-02-07 13:33:43
  4. Does genetic diversity increase innovation?
    by Jason Collins in Evolving Economics on 2013-02-12 12:42:40
  5. The new Oded Galor and Quamrul Ashraf paper
    by Tyler Cowen in Marginal Revolution on 2012-09-11 10:07:12
  6. Publishing on genetic diversity and economic growth
    by Jason Collins in Evolving Economics on 2013-02-27 13:53:47
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