Eye disease, the fertility decline, and the emergence of global income differences
Research output: Working paper › Research › peer-review
This research advances and empirically establishes the hypothesis that regional variation in the historical incidence of eye disease has influenced the current global distribution of per capita income. By reducing work life expectancy, high historical eye disease incidence has served to diminish the incentive to accumulate skills, thereby delaying the fertility transition and the take-off to sustained economic growth. As a consequence of a differential timing of the take-off to growth, prompted by differences in the inherent return to skill formation, global income disparities have emerged.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 5 Feb 2014 |
Bibliographical note
JEL Classification: O11; I00; Q54
ID: 100875256