Publication: Climate and Scale in Economic Growth
Loading...
Open/View Files
Date
2000-06
Published Version
Published Version
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Center for International Development at Harvard University
The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you.
Citation
Masters, William A., and Margaret S. McMillan. “Climate and Scale in Economic Growth.” CID Working Paper Series 2000.48, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, June 2000.
Abstract
This paper introduces new data on climatic conditions to empirical tests of growth theories. We find that, since 1960, temperate countries have converged towards high levels of income while tropical nations have converged towards various income levels associated with economic scale and the extent of the market. These results hold for a wide range of tests. A plausible explanation is that temperate regions' growth was assisted by their climate, perhaps historically for their transition out of agriculture into sectors whose productivity converges across countries, while tropical countries' growth is relatively more dependent on gains from specialization and trade.
Description
Other Available Sources
Research Data
Keywords
Terms of Use
This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material (LAA), as set forth at Terms of Service