Malaria and Early African Development

Evidence From the Sickle Cell Trait

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9710558
AutoresEmilio Depetris‐Chauvin (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), Emilio Depetris-Chauvín (0000-0002-4236-7869, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), David Weil (0000-0002-1092-6056, John Brown University), David N Weil (Brown University and NBER)
Año2018
Volumen128
Número610
Páginas1207-1234
Fecha de publicación2018-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/ecoj.12433
PMID30294005
OpenAlexW2166566733
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10
Referencias citadas55

We examine the effect of malaria on economic development in Africa over the very long run. Using data on the prevalence of the mutation that causes sickle cell disease, we measure the impact of malaria on mortality in Africa prior to the period in which formal data were collected. Our estimate is that in the more afflicted regions, malaria lowered the probability of surviving to adulthood by about ten percentage points, which is twice the current burden of the disease. The reduction in malaria mortality has been roughly equal to the reduction in other causes of mortality. We then ask whether the estimated burden of malaria had an effect on economic development in the period before European contact. Using data at the ethnic group level, we find little evidence of a negative relationship between malaria burden and population density or other measures of development

Disease · Environmental health · Ethnic group · Malaria · Political science · Population · Sickle cell trait · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Demography · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Immunology · Internal Medicine · Medicine