Distance to the Technological Frontier and Economic Development

This research proposes that the geographical distance from the location of the pre-industrial technological frontier has a non-monotonic and persistent effect on development. While remoteness from this frontier diminished imitation, it fostered the emergence of a culture conducive to innovation and knowledge creation, which has persisted into the modern era even after barriers to movement dissipated. I construct a novel measure of geographical distance in the pre-industrial era, which measures the travel time along the optimal route between any two locations. Using this measure I show that the distance to the technological frontier in the past has a robust and persistent U-shaped relation with measures of economic development both in the pre-industrial and modern eras. Furthermore, a distance of 6 weeks of travel, which is roughly the distance from Ethiopia to the UK, is the least desirable distance from the technological frontier in the pre-industrial era as it generates the largest adverse effects on contemporary development.