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In longer-term:
To the author, most of these are important secondary factors. Climate has affected economic development divided. Witness French verses Bangladeshi development, or Temperate zones versus the tropics. Climate may in fact be particularly important in affecting economic growth in some tropical nations. Recent research indicates the role of temperature and rainfall may be significant in both the short and long-term in Sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of temperature is especially evident, whereas the role played by rainfall is less so. And because African economies appear to suffer significant damages from weather shocks, any trends toward increasing global warming may lead to particularly heavy burdens on Sub-Saharan Africa See Matteo Lanzafame, M. (2014, February), “Temperature, Rainfall and Economic Growth in Africa”, Journal of Empirical Economics, 46 (1): 1-18.
Natural resources availability can definitely help underwrite growth and development. It did so for the U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries. But Japan, Holland and Singapore are very resource poor nations that have had very successful growth and development, especially since 1950. And abundant natural resources do not guarantee growth. Nigeria and Venezuela are laden with oil wealth, yet people there are more poor there today than they were 50 years ago. Today some consider abundant natural resources a curse. Consider Russia—laden with oil and gas wealth at present. But Russia is not converting this natural wealth into human capital growth.
There are cultural effects on growth. To better understand this point, you might read, for example:
But effects of culture of growth and development are not always what they may seem to be:
Examples: Japan, China, Malaysia
As a young graduate student the author was told that cultures based on Confucianism or Shinto could “never develop.”
Twenty-five years ago at Harvard, Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew said in my presence:
“Indonesia and Malaysia will always be poor, because ‘sarong cultures’ (where men wear sarongs) can never develop.”
Sitting there, hearing Lee Kuan Yew, I decided to say nothing about the sarongs I wore or casual dress at home in Indonesia and Malaysia for many years. In fact economic growth was wildly successful in Malaysia in the past 40 years,and in some periods Indonesia (1972-1980, 2006-2012).
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