We document that a high level of natural productivity of the ocean—a rich bounty of the sea—has had a positive and persistent impact on economic development since pre-industrial times until today. In addition, we document that it is the bounty of the sea of the ancestors of current populations which drives the persistent effect, not geography per se. We argue that an explanation is that a rich bounty of the sea facilitated early coastal settlements and an early coastal orientation of pre-industrial economic activity. This gave rise to occupations outside of agriculture and capabilities that were complementary to early industrialization. In the long run this contributed to an early take-off to sustained economic growth.

中文翻译：

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海洋的恩惠与长期发展

我们的文件，海洋，丰富的自然生产力水平高海的恩惠都具有一个有自前工业化时代直到今天对经济发展产生积极而持久的影响。此外，我们证明，造成持久影响的是当前人口祖先的赏金，而不是地理本身。我们认为，一种解释是，丰富的海洋资源促进了早期的沿海定居点和工业化前经济活动的早期沿海化。这引起了农业以外的职业和对早期工业化的补充的能力。从长远来看，这有助于早日实现持续的经济增长。