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

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02.0

004

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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

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Economics 172: Lecture 2 19

Whiteboard #4

Economics 172: Lecture 2 20

Whiteboard #5

Economics 172: Lecture 2 21

Map of Africa