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On a dubious theory of cross-country differences in intelligence

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  • Kevin Denny

Abstract

Kanazawa (2007) offers an explanation for the variation across countries of average intelligence. It is based on the idea human intelligence is a domain specific adaptation and that both temperature and the distance from some putative point of origin are proxies for the degree of novelty that humans in a country have experienced. However the argument ignores many other considerations and is a priori weak and the data used questionable. A particular problem is that in calculating distances between countries it implicitly assumes that the earth is flat. This makes all the estimates biased and unreliable.

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  • Kevin Denny, 2009. "On a dubious theory of cross-country differences in intelligence," Working Papers 200918, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:200918
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/2616
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    1. Bound, John & Brown, Charles & Mathiowetz, Nancy, 2001. "Measurement error in survey data," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 59, pages 3705-3843, Elsevier.
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