The Diffusion of Development: Along Genetic or Geographic Lines?

Why are some peoples still poor? Recent research suggests that some societies may be poor due to their genetic endowments, which have been found to be a significant predictor of development even after controlling for an ostensibly exhaustive list of geographic and cultural variables. We find, by contrast, that the correlation of genetic distance from the US and GDP per capita disappears with the addition of controls for climatic distance including distance from the equator and a dummy for sub-Saharan Africa.