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Ruggedness: The blessing of bad geography in Africa

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Author Info
Nathan Nunn () (Harvard University and NBER)
Diego Puga () (IMDEA, Universidad Carlos III and CEPR)

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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 during the slave trades. Since the slave trades retarded subsequent economic development, in Africa ruggedness has also 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 is at least as large as the direct negative effect. Looking within Africa, we also provide evidence that the indirect effect operates through the slave trades.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales in its series Working Papers with number 2007-09.

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Date of creation: 01 Mar 2007
Date of revision: 17 Apr 2009
Handle: RePEc:imd:wpaper:wp2007-09

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

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
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
N50 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - General, International, or Comparative
N40 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, and Regulation - - - General, International, or Comparative

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References listed on IDEAS
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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. Wolf, Nikolaus, 2008. "Was Germany Ever United? Evidence from Intra- and International Trade, 1885 -1933," CEPR Discussion Papers 6796, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    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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