Economics 172 Issues in African Economic Development
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Economics 172 Issues in African Economic Development. Lecture 4 January 26, 2006. Outline: Bloom and Sachs (1998) on geography, health and African underdevelopment Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2001) on colonial settlement, health, and institutions. 1. Agricultural factors.
Economics 172 Issues in African Economic Development
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Economics 172Issues in African Economic Development Lecture 4 January 26, 2006
Outline: • Bloom and Sachs (1998) on geography, health and African underdevelopment • Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2001) on colonial settlement, health, and institutions Economics 172: Lecture 2
1. Agricultural factors • Rainfall patterns • Less rainfall than other regions • More variable rainfall Economics 172: Lecture 2
Rainfall distribution, 1978-2000 Economics 172: Lecture 2
1. Agricultural factors • Rainfall patterns • Less rainfall than other regions: arid soil • More variable rainfall • Highland regions • Soil quality is low Economics 172: Lecture 2
1. Agricultural factors • Rainfall patterns • Less rainfall than other regions: arid soil • More variable rainfall • Highland regions • Soil quality is low • Crop pests Economics 172: Lecture 2
2. Health factors • Widespread tropical disease • Yellow fever, sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis), schistosomiasis, intestinal helminths … Economics 172: Lecture 2
2. Health factors • Widespread tropical disease • Yellow fever, sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis), schistosomiasis, intestinal helminths … • The most important disease: malaria • Kills 1-2 millions Africans every year • The Global Fund Economics 172: Lecture 2
3. Transport factors • Ratio of coastline to land area is very low in Africa: • 1.15 in SSA, 2.54 in South Asia, 15.7 Western Europe • Major rivers to the interior (Nile, Niger, Congo, Zambezi) have large cataracts Economics 172: Lecture 2
3. Transport factors • Ratio of coastline to land area is very low in Africa: • 1.15 in SSA, 2.54 in South Asia, 15.7 Western Europe • Major rivers to the interior (Nile, Niger, Congo, Zambezi) have large cataracts • 28% of SSA population lives in land-locked countries • Large distance from the major industrialized economies in Europe, Asia, North America Economics 172: Lecture 2
Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson (2001) • Their main argument: Less tropical disease More European settlement Better government institutions (e.g., rule of law) Faster economic growth Economics 172: Lecture 2
Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson (2001) • Concerns: Omitted variable bias Economics 172: Lecture 2
For next time: Read Miguel (2005) Economics 172: Lecture 2
Whiteboard #1 Economics 172: Lecture 2
Whiteboard #2 Economics 172: Lecture 2
Whiteboard #3 Economics 172: Lecture 2
Whiteboard #4 Economics 172: Lecture 2
Whiteboard #5 Economics 172: Lecture 2
Map of Africa Economics 172: Lecture 2