Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 BC?

Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 BC?

We assemble a dataset on technology adoption in 1000 BC, 0 AD, and 1500 AD for the predecessors to today's nation states. Technological differences are surprisingly persistent over long periods of time. Our most interesting, strong, and robust results are for the association of 1500 AD technolo...

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Veröffentlicht in:American economic journal. Macroeconomics 2010-07, Vol.2 (3), p.65-97
Hauptverfasser: Comin, Diego, Easterly, William, Gong, Erick
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Appropriate technology
Countries
Datasets
Economic development
Economic history
Emerging technology
Growth models
Historians
History
History of technology
Hypotheses
Industrial Revolution
Innovation adoption
Macroeconomics
Military technology
Per capita
Ships
Studies
Technology
Technology adoption
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:We assemble a dataset on technology adoption in 1000 BC, 0 AD, and 1500 AD for the predecessors to today's nation states. Technological differences are surprisingly persistent over long periods of time. Our most interesting, strong, and robust results are for the association of 1500 AD technology with per capita income and technology adoption today. We also find robust and significant technological persistence from 1000 BC to 0 AD, and from 0 AD to 1500 AD. The evidence is consistent with a model where the cost of adopting new technologies declines sufficiently with the current level of adoption.
ISSN:1945-7707
1945-7715
DOI:10.1257/mac.2.3.65