The Ancient Origins of the Wealth of Nations
44 Pages Posted: 20 Oct 2020
Date Written: 2020
Abstract
This essay explores the deepest roots of economic development. It underscores the significance of evolutionary processes in shaping fundamental individual and cultural traits, such as time preference, risk and loss aversion, and predisposition towards child quality, that have contributed to technological progress, human-capital formation, and economic development. Moreover, it highlights the persistent mark of the exodus of Homo sapiens from Africa tens of thousands of years ago on the degree of interpersonal population diversity across the globe and examines the impact of this variation in diversity for comparative economic, cultural, and institutional development across countries, regions, and ethnic groups.
Keywords: comparative development, human evolution, natural selection, preference for child quality, time preference, loss aversion, entrepreneurial spirit, the “out of Africa� hypothesis, interpersonal diversity
JEL Classification: O110, N100, N300, Z100
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