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Economics 172 Issues in African Economic Development

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.

JasminFlorian
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Economics 172 Issues in African Economic Development

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  1. Economics 172Issues in African Economic Development Lecture 4 January 26, 2006

  2. 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

  3. 1. Agricultural factors • Rainfall patterns • Less rainfall than other regions • More variable rainfall Economics 172: Lecture 2

  4. Rainfall distribution, 1978-2000 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 Economics 172: Lecture 2

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