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Cited by 1,187

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 5 of the 5 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Ruggedness: The Blessing of Bad Geography in Africa

Open access
Nunn, Nathan, Puga, Diego·2012·Review of Economics and Statistics
DOI 10.1162/rest_a_00161
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Abstract

There is controversy about whether geography matters mainly because of its contemporaneous impact on economic outcomes or because of its interaction with historical events.Looking at terrain ruggedness, we are able to estimate the importance of these two channels.Because rugged terrain hinders trade and most productive activities, it has a negative direct effect on income.However, in Africa rugged terrain afforded protection to those being raided during the slave trades.Since the slave trades retarded subsequent economic development, in Africa ruggedness has also had a historical indirect positive effect on income.Studying all countries worldwide, we find that both effects are significant statistically and that for Africa the indirect positive effect dominates the direct negative effect.Looking within Africa, we also provide evidence that the indirect effect operates through the slave trades.

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Citations

Cites

Show all 5 references

Research works printed but not linked: 26

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Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Nunn, N., & Puga, D.
Venue
Review of Economics and Statistics
Publisher
MIT Press
Published
2012-02
Volume
94
Issue
1
Pages
20-36
ISSN
  • 0034-6535 (ISSN-L)
  • 1530-9142
DOI
10.1162/rest_a_00161
OpenAlex
W2889827801
Cited by
1,187
References
5
FWCI
57.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Ruggedness: The Blessing of Bad Geography in Africa. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1162/rest_a_00161
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Nunn, N., & Puga, D. (2012). Ruggedness: The Blessing of Bad Geography in Africa. Review of Economics and Statistics. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00161

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