Macroevolutionary Origins of Comparative Development

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Riahi, Ideen A.
• 署名单位: City University of New York (CUNY) System; Baruch College (CUNY); City University of New York (CUNY) System
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/uead095
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 1247-1286
• 关键词: long-run impact; agricultural revolution; culture; diffusion; institutions; pleistocene; EVOLUTION; AFRICA; domestication; CONSEQUENCES

摘要

Advances in evolutionary theories (the Extended Synthesis) demonstrate that organisms systematically modify environments in ways that influence their own and other species' evolution. This paper utilises these theories to examine the economic consequences of human dispersal from Africa. Evidence shows that early humans' dispersal affected the adaptability of animal species to human environments and, through this, the extinction of large mammals during Homo sapiens' out-of-Africa migration. Empirical analyses explore the variation in extinction rates as a source of exogenous pressure for cooperation and innovation among hunter-gatherers and examine the impact of extinction on long-run development. The results indicate that extinction affects economic performance by driving continental differences in biogeography, disease environments and institutions. Eurasia's location along the out-of-Africa migratory path provided human and animal populations with co-evolutionary foundations for domestication and agriculture, which gave Eurasians technological and institutional advantages in comparative development.