“The Effect of the TseTse Fly on African Development” by Marcella Alsan, which was published in the American Economic Review.
economics
Description
Econometric Methods I: Problem set 6 Geert Mesters November 1, 2019 This problem set is based on the paper “The Effect of the TseTse Fly on African Development” by Marcella Alsan, which was published in the American Economic Review. The paper is uploaded on Box and is easy and fun to read. Please explain your answers clearly and state additional assumptions if you use them. You may work in small groups (max 4) and you hand in 1 assignment per group. Your solutions need to be handed in before the next ta session (11:30 on 07-11-2019 (next Thursday). Good luck !!! • Before answering the questions below it is recommended to read the relevant pages in Econometrics by Bruce Hansen. See the detailed reading list on Box. The abstract of the paper is: The TseTse fly is unique to Africa and transmits a parasite harmful to humans and lethal to livestock. This paper tests the hypothesis that the TseTse reduced the ability of Africans to generate an agricultural surplus historically. Ethnic groups inhabiting TseTse-suitable areas were less likely to use domesticated animals and the plow, less likely to be politically centralized, and had a lower population density. These correlations are not found in the tropics outside of Africa, where the fly does not exist. The evidence suggests current economic performance is affected by the TseTse through the channel of precolonial political centralization
