Working Paper: NBER ID: w14918
Authors: Nathan Nunn; Diego Puga
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 dominates the direct negative effect. Looking within Africa, we also provide evidence that the indirect effect operates through the slave trades.
Keywords: Geography; Economic Development; Slave Trades; Africa
JEL Codes: N40; N50; O11; O13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| rugged terrain (R14) | income per capita (D31) |
| rugged terrain (R14) | slave exports (J47) |
| slave exports (J47) | quality of domestic institutions (O17) |
| quality of domestic institutions (O17) | income per capita (D31) |