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Ruggedness: The Blessing of Bad Geography in Africa

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Author Info
Nunn, Nathan
Puga, Diego

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Abstract

There is controversy about whether geography matters mainly because of its contemporaneous impact on economic outcomes or because of its interaction with historical events. Looking at terrain ruggedness, we are able to estimate the importance of these two channels. Because rugged terrain hinders trade and most productive activities, it has a negative direct effect on income. However, in Africa rugged terrain afforded protection to those being raided by slave traders. Since the slave trade retarded subsequent economic development, in Africa ruggedness also has had a historical indirect positive effect on income. Studying all countries worldwide, we find that both effects are significant statistically and that for Africa the indirect positive effect dominates the direct negative effect. Looking within Africa, we provide evidence that the indirect effect operates through the slave trade. We also show that the slave trade, by encouraging population concentrations in rugged areas, have also amplified the negative direct impact of rugged terrain in Africa.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 6253.

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Date of creation: Apr 2007
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6253

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Related research
Keywords: Africa; economic development; geography; slave trades; terrain ruggedness;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
N40 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, and Regulation - - - General, International, or Comparative
N50 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - General, International, or Comparative
O11 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
O13 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Nikolaus Wolf, 2008. "Was Germany ever United? Evidence from Intra- and International Trade 1885 - 1933," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Nathan Nunn, 2009. "The Importance of History for Economic Development," NBER Working Papers 14899, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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