Was the Wealth of Nations determined in 1000 BC?

American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics • Vol/Iss. 2(3) • American Economic Association • • Published In • Pages: 65-97 •
By Comin, Diego, Easterly, William, Gong, Erick

Abstract

The authors explore the relationship between differences in technology adoption across cultures in snapshots from 1000 BCE, 0 CE, 1500 CE, and 2002 CE. While acknowledging various flaws inherent in the ambitious scope of their dataset, a significant relationship is nonetheless revealed between technology adoption in 1500 CE and technology and income in 2002 CE after controlling for various geographic and demographic factors. The authors suggest that this persistence may occur because technology adoption is heavily dependent on stock of prior technology.
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: jack.dunnington