Geography, Climate, and Genes in Development Studies
Over the coming decade, much more genetic data will enter into the study of economic development. This paper provides an example and emphasizes the uses and misuses of such information. It has assembled for the first time national frequencies of the ACP1 genetic polymorphism and the Interleukin-6 (I...
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okr-10986-361462021-08-18T05:10:29Z Geography, Climate, and Genes in Development Studies Klitgaard, Robert Fedderke, Johannes W. Napolioni, Valerio DEVELOPMENT GENES PARASITE STRESS THEORY PHOSPHATASE LOCUS 1 ECONOMETRICS COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT INFECTIOUS DISEASE POLYMORPHISM PUBLIC HEALTH FERTILITY Over the coming decade, much more genetic data will enter into the study of economic development. This paper provides an example and emphasizes the uses and misuses of such information. It has assembled for the first time national frequencies of the ACP1 genetic polymorphism and the Interleukin-6 (IL6-174G) and Interleukin-10 (IL10-1082G) cytokines. These three respond over the centuries to ultraviolet radiation and infectious diseases. The study also looks at a national measure of heterozygotic diversity. In particular, it finds that ACP1 frequencies are significantly related to national outcomes ranging from GDP per capita to type and quality of governance, to measures of national “competitiveness,” to health, to fertility, to measures of satisfaction with life. These associations do not seem explainable by reverse causation nor by the influence of some of the usual variables in studies of long-run development. Nonetheless, these results do not mean that a few genes have a direct causal effect on world development. The ACP1*B variable is surely picking up the influences of many genetic and cultural adaptations over evolutionary time in response to ultraviolet exposure and pathogen burdens. This study's findings thus support other research indicating the importance of disease environments in shaping both genetic and sociocultural adaptations that have influence on development outcomes today. The paper concludes with a discussion of what such strong associations mean and do not mean, in hopes of guiding future studies of genes and other deep roots of economic development. 2021-08-17T14:56:25Z 2021-08-17T14:56:25Z 2020-02 Journal Article World Bank Economic Review 1564-698X http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36146 CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Journal Article |
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Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
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Digital Repositories |
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DEVELOPMENT GENES PARASITE STRESS THEORY PHOSPHATASE LOCUS 1 ECONOMETRICS COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT INFECTIOUS DISEASE POLYMORPHISM PUBLIC HEALTH FERTILITY |
| spellingShingle |
DEVELOPMENT GENES PARASITE STRESS THEORY PHOSPHATASE LOCUS 1 ECONOMETRICS COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT INFECTIOUS DISEASE POLYMORPHISM PUBLIC HEALTH FERTILITY Klitgaard, Robert Fedderke, Johannes W. Napolioni, Valerio Geography, Climate, and Genes in Development Studies |
| description |
Over the coming decade, much more genetic data will enter into the study of economic development. This paper provides an example and emphasizes the uses and misuses of such information. It has assembled for the first time national frequencies of the ACP1 genetic polymorphism and the Interleukin-6 (IL6-174G) and Interleukin-10 (IL10-1082G) cytokines. These three respond over the centuries to ultraviolet radiation and infectious diseases. The study also looks at a national measure of heterozygotic diversity. In particular, it finds that ACP1 frequencies are significantly related to national outcomes ranging from GDP per capita to type and quality of governance, to measures of national “competitiveness,” to health, to fertility, to measures of satisfaction with life. These associations do not seem explainable by reverse causation nor by the influence of some of the usual variables in studies of long-run development. Nonetheless, these results do not mean that a few genes have a direct causal effect on world development. The ACP1*B variable is surely picking up the influences of many genetic and cultural adaptations over evolutionary time in response to ultraviolet exposure and pathogen burdens. This study's findings thus support other research indicating the importance of disease environments in shaping both genetic and sociocultural adaptations that have influence on development outcomes today. The paper concludes with a discussion of what such strong associations mean and do not mean, in hopes of guiding future studies of genes and other deep roots of economic development. |
| format |
Journal Article |
| author |
Klitgaard, Robert Fedderke, Johannes W. Napolioni, Valerio |
| author_facet |
Klitgaard, Robert Fedderke, Johannes W. Napolioni, Valerio |
| author_sort |
Klitgaard, Robert |
| title |
Geography, Climate, and Genes in Development Studies |
| title_short |
Geography, Climate, and Genes in Development Studies |
| title_full |
Geography, Climate, and Genes in Development Studies |
| title_fullStr |
Geography, Climate, and Genes in Development Studies |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Geography, Climate, and Genes in Development Studies |
| title_sort |
geography, climate, and genes in development studies |
| publisher |
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36146 |
| _version_ |
1764484601397379072 |