UV Radiation Associates With State Income Through Complex Cognitive Ability in the USA
Abstract
Abstract. Economic development and national intelligence decline with proximity to the equator. Absolute latitude associates with both, income and IQ, but the nature of their relationship is ambiguous. This study applied structural equation modeling using secondary data pertaining to the 48 contiguous states of the United States of America to test the hypothesis that UV (ultraviolet) radiation associates with income through complex cognitive ability vis-a-vis the hypothesis that UV radiation associates with complex cognitive ability through income. The resulting evidence was consistent with the ability → income pathway and unsupportive of the income → ability model. The findings uphold the cognitive capitalism perspective and may throw light on the evolvement of regional differences in the USA.
References
(2015). Regional differences in intelligence in Sudan. Intelligence, 50, 150–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2015.03.007
(2009). Root causes of African underdevelopment. Journal of African Economies, 18, 745–780. https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejp009
. (2014). State personal income 2013. Retrieved from https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/2014/spi0314.htm
(2007). Black intellectual genocide: An essay review of IQ and the wealth of nations. Education Review, 10, 1–28.
(2010). Geographical influences on long-run development. Journal of African Economies, 19, 635–656. https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejq014
(1998). Geography, demography, and economic growth in Africa. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2, 207–295. https://doi.org/10.2307/2534695
(2008). Fertility transitions in developing countries: Progress or stagnation. Studies in Family Planning, 39, 105–110. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4465.2008.00157.x
(2009). Birth order matters: The effect of family size and birth order on educational attainment. Journal of Population Economics, 22, 367–397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-007-0181-4
(2013). The Wilson effect: The increase in heritability of IQ with age. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 16, 923–930. https://doi.org/10.1017/thg.2013.54
(2006). The primacy of institutions reconsidered: Direct income effects of malaria prevalence. The World Bank Economic Review, 20, 309–339. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhl001
(1996). Insult, aggression, and the Southern culture of honor: An experimental ethnography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 945–960. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.5.945
(2007). Was the wealth of nations determined in 1000 BC? American Economics Journal, Macroeconomics, 2, 65–97. https://doi.org/10.1257/mac.2.3.65
(2013). IQ and the wealth of nations: How much reverse causality? Intelligence, 41, 688–698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2013.07.020
(2013). Does the intelligence of populations determine the wealth of nations? The Journal of Socio-Economics, 46, 27–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2013.06.005
. (2004). Income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States: 2003. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. (Current Population Reports, P60–226) Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p60–226.pdf
(2007). Between facets and domains: 10 Aspects of the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 880–896. https://doi.org/10.1037/e633942013-310
(2006). Exponential correlation of IQ and the wealth of nations. Intelligence, 34, 291–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2005.09.006
(2002). Sources and measurement of ultraviolet radiation. Methods, 28, 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1046-2023(02)00204-9
(2005). Daily duration of Vitamin D synthesis in human skin with relation to latitude, total ozone, altitude, ground cover, aerosols and cloud thickness. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 81, 1287–1290. https://doi.org/10.1562/2004-11-19-rn-375
(1987). Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 171–191. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.101.2.171
(2009). What is intelligence?. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
(2016a). Admixture in the Americas: Regional and national differences. Mankind Quarterly, 56, 255–373.
(2016b). The genealogy of differences in the Americas. Mankind Quarterly, 56, 425–481.
(2006). Is the no child left behind act working? The reliability of how states track achievement (Working Paper 06-1). Berkeley, CA: University of California, Policy Analysis for California Education.
(1999). Geography and economic development. International Regional Science Review, 22, 179–232. https://doi.org/10.3386/w6849
(2008). IQ, cultural values, and the technological achievement of nations. Intelligence, 36, 711–718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2008.04.003
(2016). Regional differences in intelligence, infant mortality, stature and fertility in European Russia in the late nineteen century. Intelligence, 55, 34–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2016.01.003
(2011). IQ, trading behavior, and performance. Journal of Financial Economics, 104, 339–362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2011.05.016
(2002). Why is agricultural labor productivity higher in some countries than others? Agriculture Economics Review, 3, 58–72.
(2010). The heritability of general cognitive ability increases linearly from childhood to young adulthood. Molecular Psychiatry, 15, 1112–1120. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2009.55
(2008). National intelligence and national prosperity. Intelligence, 36, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.11.002
(2010). Human skin pigmentation as an adaptation to UV radiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 8962–8968. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0914628107
(2011).
IQ and national productivity . In S. N. DurlaufL. E. BlumeEds., The new Palgrave dictionary of economics (pp. 444–460). New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978.1-1-349-95121-5-3004-1(2012). Cognitive skill and technology diffusion: An empirical test. Economic Systems, 36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.1011.10.003
(2010). IQ in the production function. Evidence from immigrant earnings. Economic Inquiry, 48, 743–755. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295-2008.00206.x
(1998). Current understanding of the molecular actions of vitamin D. Physiology Review, 78, 1193–1231.
(2006). IQ and the wealth of states. Intelligence, 34, 593–600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.04.003
(2012). Intelligence, birth order, and family size. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 1157–1164. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212445911
(2005). Oxidative stress levels are raised in chronic fatigue syndrome and are associated with clinical symptoms. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 39, 584–589. https://doi.org/10.1016/freeradbiome.2005.04.020
(2014). The interaction of malnutrition and neurologic disability in Africa. Seminars in Pediatric Neurology, 21, 42–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spen.2014.01.003
(2011). The effects of vitamin D on brain development and adult brain function. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 347, 121–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mce.2011.05.014
(2013). Japanese north-south gradient in IQ predicts differences in stature, skin color, income, and homicide rate. Intelligence, 41, 512–516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2013.07.001
(2015). The east-to-west decay of math and reading scores in the United States: A prediction from UVB radiation theory. Personality and Individual Differences, 86, 287–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.06.028
(2016). Race vis-à-vis latitude: Their influence on intelligence, infectious diseases, and income. Mankind Quarterly, 56, 214–225.
(2016). How altitude above sea level affects intelligence. Intelligence, 58, 33–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2016.06.001
(2014). Why complex cognitive ability increases with absolute latitude. Intelligence, 46, 291–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2014.07.011
(2015). How geography influences complex cognitive ability. Intelligence, 50, 221–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2015.04.011
(2017). UV radiation is associated with latitudinal trends in cognitive ability of White children in the USA. Journal of Individual Differences, 38, 155–162. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000232
(1991). The evolution of race differences in intelligence. Mankind Quarterly, 32, 99–173.
(2010). In Italy, north-south differences in IQ predict differences in income, education, infant mortality, stature, and literacy. Intelligence, 38, 93–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2009.07.004
(2012). North-south differences in Spain in IQ, educational attainment, per capita income, literacy, life expectancy and employment. Mankind Quarterly, 52, 265–291.
(2002). IQ and the wealth of nations. Westport, CT: Praeger.
(2006). IQ and global inequality. Athens, GA: Washington Summit.
(2012). National IQs: A review of their educational, cognitive, economic, political, demographic, sociological, epidemiological, geographic and climatic correlates. Intelligence, 40, 226–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2011.11.004
(2001). Climate and scale in economic growth. Journal of Economic Growth, 6, 167–183. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1011398431524
(2000). Climate and agricultural productivity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Center for International Development.
(2001). Institutions and geography: Comment on Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2000). Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w8114
(1997). Substantial genetic influence on cognitive abilities in twins 80 or more years old. Science, 276, 1560–1563. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.276.5318.1560
(2006). Estimating state IQ: Measurement challenges and preliminary correlates. Intelligence, 34, 607–619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.08.007
(2009). Ultraviolet light-induced oxidative stress: Effects on antioxidant response of Helicoverpa armigera adults. Journal of Insect Physiology, 55, 588–592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2009.03.003
(2012). Cognitive human capital and economic growth: Defining the causal paths. Journal of Social Political and Economic Studies, 38, 16–54.
. (2015). State comparisons. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/statecomparisons
. (2015a). UV Index: Annual time series. Retrieved from www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/uv_index/uv_annual.shtml
. (2015b). State annual and seasonal time series. National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/state-temps/
(2012). Intelligence: New findings and theoretical developments. The American Psychologist, 67, 130–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026699
(2006). The G-Econ database on gridded output: Methods and data. Retrieved from http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/downloads/docs/spatialecon/gecon-data-20051206.pdf
(2009). Geography: Graphics and economics. The B. E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, 9, 1–14.
(2013). Migratory selection for inversely related covariant T- and IQ-Nexus traits: Testing the IQ-T-geoclimatic-origin theory by the general trait covariance model. Personality and Individual Differences, 55, 267–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.06.006
(2005). Biogeography and long-run economic development. European Economic Review, 49, 909–938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2003.08.010
(2014). Only in America: Cold Winters theory, race, IQ and well-being. Intelligence, 46, 271–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2014.07.009
(1997). Tropics and economic development: An empirical investigation. World Development, 25, 1443–1452. https://doi.org/10.1016/a0305-750x(97)00044-2
(1999). Tropics and income: A longitudinal study of the US states. Review of Income and Wealth, 45, 373–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4991.tb00346.x
(2007). IQ and economic growth: Further argumentation of Mankiw-Romer-Weil model. Economics Letters, 84, 7–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2006.05.005
(2007). The g-factor of international cognitive ability comparisons: The homogeneity of results in PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS and IQ-tests across nations. European Journal of Personality, 21, 667–706. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.634
(2012). Intellectual classes, technological progress and economic development: The rise of cognitive capitalism. Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 108–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.001
(2015). Cognitive capital, good governance, and the wealth of nations. Intelligence, 51, 98–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2015.06.002
(2011). Cognitive capitalism: The effect of cognitive ability on wealth, as mediated through scientific achievement and economic freedom. Psychological Science, 22, 754–763. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611407207
(1995). Race, evolution, and behavior: A life history perspective (2nd ed.). Port Huron, MI: Charles Darwin Research Institute.
(2005). Thirty years of research on race differences in cognitive ability. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 11, 235–294. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8971.11.2.235
(2010). Association between climate and IQ in the United States of America. Psychological Reports, 107, 251–254. https://doi.org/10.2466/04.17.pr0.107.4.251-254
(2001). Tropical underdevelopment. (NBER Working Paper No. 8119). Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w8119
(2003). Institutions don’t rule: Direct effects of geography on per capita income. (NBER Working Paper No. 9490). Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w9490
(2002). The economic and social burden of malaria. Nature, 415, 680–685. https://doi.org/10.1038/415680a
(2006). Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: A review. The Journal of Educational Research, 99, 323–338. https://doi.org/10.3200/joer.99.6.323.338
(2006). Temperature, skin color, per capita income, and IQ: An international perspective. Intelligence, 34, 121–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2005.04.002
(2003). IQ and the wealth of nations. European Sociological Review, 19, 411–412. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/19.4.411
(2004). Effects of high fluoride and low iodine on oxidative stress and antioxidant defense of the brain in offspring rats. Fluoride, 37, 264–270.
(2002). The impact of intelligence and institutional improvements on economic growth. Kyklos, 55, 361–380. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6435.00191
(2006). Prediction of national wealth. Intelligence, 34, 449–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.02.003
(2010). Why national IQs do not support evolutionary theories of intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 91–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid/2009.05.028
(1997). Birth order: Reconciling conflicting effects. The American Psychologist, 52, 685–699. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.52.7.685
(2012). Seasonal fluctuations and economic growth. Journal of Economic Development, 37, 1–27.
