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Economics 172Issues in African Economic Development
Lecture 4
January 26, 2006
Economics 172: Lecture 2 2
Outline:
(1) Bloom and Sachs (1998) on geography, health and African underdevelopment
(2) Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2001) on colonial settlement, health, and institutions
Economics 172: Lecture 2 3
1. Agricultural factors
• Rainfall patterns – Less rainfall than other regions– More variable rainfall
Economics 172: Lecture 2 4
Rainfall distribution, 1978-20000
.00
02.0
004
.00
06.0
008
0 1000 2000 3000 4000x
kdensity ASIA kdensity SSAkdensity LA
Economics 172: Lecture 2 5
Economics 172: Lecture 2 6
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 7
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 8
2. Health factors
• Widespread tropical disease– Yellow fever, sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis),
schistosomiasis, intestinal helminths …
Economics 172: Lecture 2 9
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 10
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 11
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 12
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 13
Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson (2001)
• Concerns:
Omitted variable bias
Economics 172: Lecture 2 14
Economics 172: Lecture 2 15
• For next time: Read Miguel (2005)
Economics 172: Lecture 2 16
Whiteboard #1
Economics 172: Lecture 2 17
Whiteboard #2
Economics 172: Lecture 2 18
Whiteboard #3
Economics 172: Lecture 2 19
Whiteboard #4
Economics 172: Lecture 2 20
Whiteboard #5
Economics 172: Lecture 2 21
Map of Africa