No reversal of fortune in the long run: geography and spatial persistence of prosperity in Colombia, 1500-2005

This paper examines the non-reversal of fortune thesis proposed by Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2002) in the light of the Colombian experience over the last 500 years. Using a total of 14 national population censuses and the record of tributary Indians in 1559, it is found that the population density of Colombian regions presented a high degree of persistence through time. Thus, the evidence indicates that those places that were prosperous circa 1500 remain so today, and viceversa. These results indicate that the long run influences of geography on regional economic disparities within a country are not negligible.