Ancestry and development: New evidence
用新的人类基因组数据重新检验了祖先距离与技术前沿对人均收入的影响，发现该效应呈倒U形，在1870-1913年达到顶峰后迅速下降，表明祖先距离只是发展的暂时障碍。
Summary We revisit the relationship between ancestral distance and barriers to the diffusion of development by replicating previous results with a new genomic dataset on human microsatellite variation. We find a statistically and economically significant effect of ancestral distance from the technological frontier on income per capita. The historical pattern of the effect is hump shaped, peaking between 1870 and 1913, and declining steeply afterwards. This suggests that ancestral distance acts as a temporary barrier to the diffusion of development. We also find that ancestral distance from the frontier is a barrier to the spread of specific technologies and institutions in modern times.