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Project Citation: 

Comin, Diego, Easterly, William, and Gong, Erick. Replication data for: Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 BC? Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2010. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E114180V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary 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. (JEL N10, O33, O47)

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      N10 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: General, International, or Comparative
      O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
      O47 Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence


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