Week 1/2 (Geography)

Question 1

What is the Montesquieu argument?

Answer 1

• The heat of the climate is so strong that people are without strength and decrease productivity
• In colder climates people are stronger and more brave
• In warmer climates people are more likely to succumb to despots.
• Cooler places more democracy and they will stand up to rulers

Question 2

What is a paper that directly links temperature and income?

Answer 2

(Dell, Olken and Jones, 2009)
- Show that a 1 degree temperature rise per capita income drops 8%

Question 3

What is a paper that directly links global warming and output

Answer 3

Burke, Hsiang and Miguel (2015)
- Show that by 2100 impact of global warming will reduce average per capita income by 23%
- distributional effect is worse in developing countries

Question 4

What is a paper linking temperature to output in India?

What is a paper that shows the same in a US context?

Answer 4

Somanathan et al (2021) (A/C in India)
- A 1 deg increase drops annual productivity by 2%
- A/C helps but only partially

• Steve Cox (2010)
  Before AC workers would leave early or places would shut down.

Question 5

What does Diamond (1988) argue?

What are some limitations?

Answer 5

• Geography gave some countries comparative advantages, particularly in Eurasia.

1. Unequal Distribution of Domestication of Animals:
   Very few animals are good in domestication
   13/14 domestcation large animals are from Eurasia
   Without domesticable animals places developed much slower.
2. Unequal Distribution of Domestication of Plants
   Most of major food crops came from Eurasia.
   Farming boosted food supply and innovation
3. Axis of Geog matters - harder to transmit North-South
   - In Eurasia climate was similar East-West which made the spread of crops easier
   - In Americas and Africa it was not able to spread like that North-South
4. Germs and Diseases
   - As Europeans lived nearer farm animals they got immunity to diseases like smallpox
   - When Europeans went to Africa and America they spread diseases to local indigenous population.
5. Bigger population = more innovation
6. Limitations
   Diamond’s theory is better for explaining thousands of years ago

Question 6

What is Diamond (1988) larger argument?

Answer 6

1. Bigger populations provide more chance for innovation
2. Geography matters for a long time

Question 7

What are the problems with Diamond (1988) argument?

Answer 7

• Industrial technology is not impacted by axis
• Is it possible that in americas people just did not experiment with domestication
• Why do we see that countries that were rich in 15th century now poorer? Nothing has changed in the World’s geography.

Question 8

What is the argument by Sachs, Mellinger and Gallup, 2001)

What is the mechansim of the argument?

What is a key finding to support the argument?

Answer 8

• Economies in tropical eco-zones are almost always poor. Those in temperate eco-zones are more rich
• Burden of infectious diseases is more high in temperate zones
• More diseases for plants in tropical zones as well
• Also argues that countries closer to navigable waterways are more wealthy as it decreases the cost of transport costs.
• Good health - higher productivity - high income - high savings - high investment - better productivity and better health
• Poor health - low life expectancy - why invest in education saving

The further away you go from the tropics per capita income goes up.

Question 9

what are the main drawbacks of geography hypothesis?

Answer 9

• Diamond does well at explaining why Eurasia was different to Africas and Americas, but not intereurasia.
• Hierarchy of incomes in America not due to geography. The south used to be richer in 15th century but there was a reversal of fortune, even tho geog stayed the same
• Middle east had some of the best geog but has been overtaken by Eu. Geog stays the same
• Japan and China used to be very rich but overtaken by Eu. Again, geog stayed the same.