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Geographic Determinism One of the oldest theories of economic development is that of geographic determinism. In the nineteenth century Ellsworth Huntington attributed much of human behavior and activity to geographic factors. He apparently believed that New Haven, Connecticut (he was a professor at Yale University) had the most invigorating climate in the world, and everywhere else was less appropriate for economic and human development. Huntington's ideas helped to discredit geography as a science, and it still often gets the short end of the budgetary stick in many universities today. Now Jeffrey Sachs comes along and finds statistical evidence that climate's effect on agriculture and health translates into a real effect on countries' rates of growth. Regional variables for Latin America, Africa, and South Asia have helped to explain rates of economic growth in many studies, including some of those discussed in Chapter 5 and later chapters of the textbook. Recall Barro's regressions that include dummy variables for Africa and Latin America, for example. But Jeffrey D. Sachs (2001), "Tropical Underdevelopment," NBER Working Paper 8119, February, (www.nber.org/papers/w8119) finds a direct relationship between characteristics of tropical countries and economic growth. Sachs observes that "economies in tropical ecozones are nearly everywhere poor, while those in temperate ecozones are generally rich." (P. 1) He goes on to say: "These geographical correlates of economic development and underdevelopment deserve an explanation, yet they have been neglected by academic economists for decades." (p. 2) Perhaps people remember what the intellectual community did to Huntington and the legacy he left! But Sachs is undaunted: |
My argument is that the technology for production in the tropics has long lagged behind
temperate-zone technology in two critical areas–food production and health–opening a substantial
gap in incomes between the two regions. A third gap, the ability to mobilize energy resources,
might also have played an important role. This initial gap was then amplified through economic,
demographic and political-military forces. Since technologies in the critical areas of agriculture,
health, and related areas could diffuse within ecological zones, economic development spread through
temperate zones but not through the tropical regions. Sach's reference to the gap in energy resources refers to the fact that most coal deposits have been found in temperate climates. Oil, of course, is abundant in tropical regions as well as temperate regions. And it is not entirely clear why technology has not spread latitudinally when it did spread longitudinally. The role of geography, distance, and cultural/political/social barriers no doubt play some role in the preventing the spread of technology and ideas. But Sachs' hypothesis seems too simplistic. There are also too many exceptions to his hypothesis. For example, Singapore is extremely wealthy yet situated in the middle of the tropics. Many so-called tropical countries have very pleasant climates, some are ideally Mediterranean, just like highly-developed California. And some temperate countries are economic disasters, such as the Ukraine, Albania, or North Korea. Download Sachs' paper and decide for yourself. |