Table 1.
Summary Statistics
| variable | Obs. | mean | st. dev. | p25 | median | p75 | min | max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panel A: All Observations | ||||||||
| Light Density | 683 | 0.368 | 1.528 | 0.000 | 0.022 | 0.150 | 0.000 | 25.140 |
| Ln (0.01 + Light Density) | 683 | −2.946 | 1.701 | −4.575 | −3.429 | −1.835 | −4.605 | 3.225 |
| Pixel-Level Light Density | 66570 | 0.560 | 3.422 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 62.978 |
| Lit Pixel | 66570 | 0.167 | 0.373 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 1.000 |
| Panel B: Stateless Ethnicities | ||||||||
| Light Density | 183 | 0.248 | 1.878 | 0.000 | 0.017 | 0.080 | 0.000 | 25.140 |
| Ln (0.01 + Light Density) | 183 | −3.273 | 1.427 | −4.605 | −3.621 | −2.408 | −4.605 | 3.225 |
| Pixel-Level Light Density | 13174 | 0.172 | 1.556 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 55.634 |
| Lit Pixel | 13174 | 0.100 | 0.301 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 1.000 |
| Panel C: Petty Chiefdoms | ||||||||
| Light Density | 276 | 0.269 | 1.155 | 0.000 | 0.013 | 0.084 | 0.000 | 13.086 |
| Ln (0.01 + Light Density) | 276 | −3.238 | 1.584 | −4.605 | −3.753 | −2.370 | −4.605 | 2.572 |
| Pixel-Level Light Density | 20259 | 0.283 | 2.084 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 60.022 |
| Lit Pixel | 20259 | 0.129 | 0.335 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 1.000 |
| Panel D: Paramount Chiefdoms | ||||||||
| Light Density | 175 | 0.311 | 0.940 | 0.001 | 0.037 | 0.191 | 0.000 | 9.976 |
| Ln (0.01 + Light Density) | 175 | −2.788 | 1.711 | −4.545 | −3.058 | −1.604 | −4.605 | 2.301 |
| Pixel-Level Light Density | 20972 | 0.388 | 2.201 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 58.546 |
| Lit Pixel | 20972 | 0.169 | 0.375 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 1.000 |
| Panel E: Pre-Colonial States | ||||||||
| Light Density | 80 | 0.993 | 2.246 | 0.007 | 0.082 | 0.803 | 0.000 | 14.142 |
| Ln (0.01 + Light Density) | 80 | −2.022 | 2.183 | −4.106 | −2.391 | −0.207 | −4.605 | 2.650 |
| Pixel-Level Light Density | 12165 | 1.739 | 6.644 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.160 | 0.000 | 62.978 |
| Lit Pixel | 12165 | 0.302 | 0.459 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 1.000 | 0.000 | 1.000 |
The table reports descriptive statistics for the luminosity data that we use to proxy economic development at the country-ethnic homeland level and at the pixel level. Panel A gives summary statistics for the full sample. Panel B reports summary statistics for ethnicities that lacked any form of political organization beyond the local level at the time of colonization. Panel C reports summary statistics for ethnicities organized in petty chiefdoms. Panel D reports summary statistics for ethnicities organized in large paramount chiefdoms. Panel E reports summary statistics for ethnicities organized in large centralized states. The classification follows Murdock (1967). The Data Appendix gives detailed variable definitions and data sources.