This dissertation examines how medical progresses, allowing for the cure of particularly diseases,and technological progress, such as the discovery of modern electric batteries, affect socio-economicdevelopment in the USA and in Sub-Saharan Africa. The dissertation also combines agriculturalprogresses, such as the discovery of a new staple crop with low health conditions, such as malariaprevalence to assess how much of the progress might be absorbed by poor environmental and healthconditions.The first chapter of the dissertation examines technological progresses, such as the creation ofmodern lithium-ion electrical batteries and their implications for socio-economic development. I ex-amine the cobalt mining boom in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which occurred in 2007, andwas caused by the advent of modern smartphones, PCs, tablets, and electric vehicles had on childlabor, through reduced education attainment and subsequently on parental fertility choices. Thisis achieved first, by combining geo-referenced data on education attainment and wealth conditionsof individuals across different villages or towns with the location of all cobalt mine deposits in theDRC in a differences-in-differences strategy. The procedure compares education attainment later inlife of those individuals who, during their childhood, lived within 10 kilometers away from a cobaltmine deposit before and after the cobalt mining boom. Moreover, the first chapter of the thesisshows that the increase in child labor lowers the opportunity cost for parents of having an additionalchild, thus resulting in a higher fertility rate. Effects of cobalt mining on wealth conditions, later inlife are also quantified.The second chapter of the dissertation examines progresses in medical field, such as the eradica-tion of malaria and related vector-borne diseases and their implications for historical economic de-velopment. I examine the eradication of malaria which happened in the US during early 1900s. Thisis achieved by comparing agricultural productivity levels of highly malarious counties with those ofless malarious counties before and after the eradication of malaria in the US which was achieved as aresult of the understanding that malaria was transmitted by the bite of specific species of mosquitoesand in turn of newly discovered drugs, such as quinine first and chemical components such as the DDT later on. Using a difference-in-difference (DID) estimation comparing historical agriculturalproductivity levels between US counties that had climatic conditions more suitable for the trans-mission of malaria with counties that were less suitable for a stable transmission of the disease, Ipresent causal evidence on the effects of higher malaria prevalence on agricultural productivity andeconomic development. Finally, the third chapter of this dissertation builds on the seminal paper of Nunn and Qian(2011) to examine if the positive impacts of the discovery of a new staple crop in the Old World,such as potato, on population and urbanization were partially absorbed by exogenous poor healthconditions. The exogenous variations of weather conditions for the transmission of malaria allowfor the comparison between potato suitable areas which had more or less prevalence of malaria. Weemploy two different estimation strategies. The first estimation entirely relies on that adopted inNunn and Qian (2011). The second estimation procedure allows us to compare population andurbanization levels at a 0.5° latitude by 0.5° longitude level. We find that the presence of weatherconditions suitable for a stable transmission of malaria counteracted the significant benefits onpopulation and urbanization observed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries due to theintroduction of potato.

Questa tesi esamina come i progressi della medicina, consentendo la cura di particolari malattie, e il progresso tecnologico, come la scoperta di moderne batterie elettriche, influenzano lo sviluppo socio-economico negli Stati Uniti e nell'Africa subsahariana. La tesi combina anche i progressi agricoli, come la scoperta di un nuovo raccolto base con condizioni di salute basse, come la malariaprevalenza per valutare quanti progressi potrebbero essere assorbiti da cattive condizioni ambientali e sanitarie.Il primo capitolo della tesi esamina i progressi tecnologici, come come la creazione di batterie elettriche agli ioni di litio moderne e le loro implicazioni per lo sviluppo socioeconomico. Ammiro il boom delle miniere di cobalto nella Repubblica Democratica del Congo, che si è verificato nel 2007, e che è stato causato dall'avvento di smartphone, PC, tablet e veicoli elettrici moderni sul lavoro minorile, attraverso un ridotto livello di istruzione e successivamente sulle scelte di fertilità dei genitori . Ciò viene raggiunto per primo, combinando i dati georeferenziati sul livello di istruzione e le condizioni di ricchezza degli individui nei diversi villaggi o città con la posizione di tutti i depositi di miniere di cobalto nella RDC in una strategia di differenze nelle differenze. La procedura mette a confronto il raggiungimento dell'istruzione più tardi nella vita di quegli individui che, durante la loro infanzia, vivevano a meno di 10 chilometri da un deposito di cobalto prima e dopo il boom dell'estrazione del cobalto. Inoltre, il primo capitolo del capitolo mostra che l'aumento del lavoro minorile riduce il costo opportunità per i genitori di avere un figlio in più, con un conseguente aumento del tasso di fertilità. Sono anche quantificati gli effetti dell'estrazione del cobalto sulle condizioni di ricchezza, in seguito nella vita. Il secondo capitolo della tesi esamina i progressi in campo medico, come l'eradicazione della malaria e delle relative malattie trasmesse da vettori e le loro implicazioni per lo sviluppo economico storico. Esamino l'eradicazione della malaria avvenuta negli Stati Uniti all'inizio del 1900. Ciò è stato ottenuto confrontando i livelli di produttività agricola delle contee altamente malarie con quelle delle contee malarie innumerevoli prima e dopo l'eradicazione della malaria negli Stati Uniti, che è stata raggiunta come risultato della comprensione che la malaria è stata trasmessa dal morso di specifiche specie di zanzare e a sua volta di recente scoperto farmaci, come il chinino prima e componenti chimici come il DDT in seguito. Utilizzando una stima della differenza nella differenza (DID) confrontando i livelli storici di produttività agricola tra le contee statunitensi che avevano condizioni climatiche più adatte alla trasmissione della malaria con contee che erano meno adatte per una trasmissione stabile della malattia, presentiamo prove causali sulla effetti di una maggiore prevalenza della malaria sulla produttività agricola e sullo sviluppo economico

(2020). Three Essays on Technological Progress and Economic Growth. (Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2020).

Three Essays on Technological Progress and Economic Growth

MALPEDE, MICHELE MAURIZIO
2020

Abstract

This dissertation examines how medical progresses, allowing for the cure of particularly diseases,and technological progress, such as the discovery of modern electric batteries, affect socio-economicdevelopment in the USA and in Sub-Saharan Africa. The dissertation also combines agriculturalprogresses, such as the discovery of a new staple crop with low health conditions, such as malariaprevalence to assess how much of the progress might be absorbed by poor environmental and healthconditions.The first chapter of the dissertation examines technological progresses, such as the creation ofmodern lithium-ion electrical batteries and their implications for socio-economic development. I ex-amine the cobalt mining boom in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which occurred in 2007, andwas caused by the advent of modern smartphones, PCs, tablets, and electric vehicles had on childlabor, through reduced education attainment and subsequently on parental fertility choices. Thisis achieved first, by combining geo-referenced data on education attainment and wealth conditionsof individuals across different villages or towns with the location of all cobalt mine deposits in theDRC in a differences-in-differences strategy. The procedure compares education attainment later inlife of those individuals who, during their childhood, lived within 10 kilometers away from a cobaltmine deposit before and after the cobalt mining boom. Moreover, the first chapter of the thesisshows that the increase in child labor lowers the opportunity cost for parents of having an additionalchild, thus resulting in a higher fertility rate. Effects of cobalt mining on wealth conditions, later inlife are also quantified.The second chapter of the dissertation examines progresses in medical field, such as the eradica-tion of malaria and related vector-borne diseases and their implications for historical economic de-velopment. I examine the eradication of malaria which happened in the US during early 1900s. Thisis achieved by comparing agricultural productivity levels of highly malarious counties with those ofless malarious counties before and after the eradication of malaria in the US which was achieved as aresult of the understanding that malaria was transmitted by the bite of specific species of mosquitoesand in turn of newly discovered drugs, such as quinine first and chemical components such as the DDT later on. Using a difference-in-difference (DID) estimation comparing historical agriculturalproductivity levels between US counties that had climatic conditions more suitable for the trans-mission of malaria with counties that were less suitable for a stable transmission of the disease, Ipresent causal evidence on the effects of higher malaria prevalence on agricultural productivity andeconomic development. Finally, the third chapter of this dissertation builds on the seminal paper of Nunn and Qian(2011) to examine if the positive impacts of the discovery of a new staple crop in the Old World,such as potato, on population and urbanization were partially absorbed by exogenous poor healthconditions. The exogenous variations of weather conditions for the transmission of malaria allowfor the comparison between potato suitable areas which had more or less prevalence of malaria. Weemploy two different estimation strategies. The first estimation entirely relies on that adopted inNunn and Qian (2011). The second estimation procedure allows us to compare population andurbanization levels at a 0.5° latitude by 0.5° longitude level. We find that the presence of weatherconditions suitable for a stable transmission of malaria counteracted the significant benefits onpopulation and urbanization observed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries due to theintroduction of potato.
CRINO', ROSARIO
Cobalto; Malaria; Shock tecnologico; Sviluppo; Patata
Cobalt; Malaria; Developement; Technology Shock; Patata
SECS-P/05 - ECONOMETRIA
English
2-apr-2020
ECONOMIA - DEFAP
32
2018/2019
open
(2020). Three Essays on Technological Progress and Economic Growth. (Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2020).
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
phd_unimib_821720.pdf

accesso aperto

Descrizione: tesi di dottorato
Dimensione 8.13 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
8.13 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/274682
Citazioni
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
Social impact