Background Papers for

G-Econ Project

May 2006

 

1. Detailed description of derivation of G-Econ data, May 2006. This document describes the creation of the G-Econ data base in detail.

 

2. Background description of data and programs, December 2005. (This document provides further procedures, regression results, and computer programs for the PNAS article, paper 4 below.)

 

3. Alternative Approaches to Spatial Rescaling, March 2003. (The purpose of this paper is the practical one of determining the best technique for spatial rescaling along with the advantage of using disaggregated political-boundary data as the primary element for rescaling. We begin with discussing some statistical issues, next turn to a discussion of a simulation strategy, and then present the results of the simulations.)

 

4. Geography and Macroeconomics: New Data and New Findings, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (US), March 7, 2006, vol. 103, no. 10, pp. 3510-3517, open access. (Abstract: The present study introduces new data on global economic activity, the G-Econ database, which measures economic activity for all large countries, measured at 1º-latitude by 1º-longitude scale. The methodologies for the study are described. Three applications of the data are investigated. First, the puzzling “climate-output reversal” is detected, whereby the relationship between temperature and output is negative when measured on a per capita basis and strongly positive on a per area basis. Second, the database allows better resolution of the impact of geographic attributes on African poverty, finding geography is an important source of income differences relative to high-income regions. Finally, we use the G-Econ data to provide estimates of the economic impact of greenhouse warming, with larger estimates of warming damages than past studies.)