Hibbs Jr., Douglas A. (Department of Economics, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Göteborg University) Olsson, Ola () (Department of Economics, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Göteborg University)
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The most important event in human economic history before the Industrial Revolution was the Neolithic transition from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to sedentary agriculture, beginning about 10,000 years ago. The transition made possible the human population explosion, the rise of non-foodproducing specialists, and the acceleration of technological progress that led eventually to the Industrial Revolution. But the transitio n occurred at different times in different regions of the world, with big consequences for the present-day economic conditions of populations indigenous to each region. In this paper we show that differences in biogeographic initial conditions and in geography largely account for the different timings of the Neolithic transition, and thereby ultimately help account for the 100-fold differences among the prosperity of nations today. The effects of biogeography and geography on the wealth of nations are partly mediated by the quality of presentday institutions, but are also partly independent of institutional quality.
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Göteborg University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers in Economics with number
105.
Length: 22 pages Date of creation: 25 Sep 2003 Date of revision:
15 Jan 2004 Publication status: Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, 2004, pages 3715-3720. Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0105
Contact details of provider: Postal: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University Box 640, SE 405 30 GÖTEBORG, Sweden Phone: 031-773 10 00 Web page: http://www.handels.gu.se/econ/ More information through EDIRC
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Find related papers by JEL classification: N00 - Economic History - - General - - - General 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 O10 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General O30 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - General O40 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
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