In the Rich Man and Lazarus parable, a privileged rich man suffers after death while the suffering Lazarus, after death, is comforted in heaven. The tale conveys the urgent necessity of repentance. The parable portrays a form of divine justice not available to Esau in Genesis 25, who, when in a reduced state, had to beg his brother Jacob for food for which the deceived Esau, under duress, exchanged his birthright.

First, we show that simple geographic forces play a role in understanding differences in current prosperity and income. This can be partially traced back to deep roots, such as the Agricultural Revolution, which allowed for a transition from a hunter-gatherer society to a farmer society and enabled the building of institutions (this gave the Eurasian continent a head start). Second, we analyse the importance of geo-human interaction for explaining current prosperity levels. There is special attention for the role of embodied institional knowledge incorporated in international migration flows for helping us understand the ancestry-adjusted impact of bio-geographic and institutional factors (which helps explain the reversal of fortune hypothesis). Eventually, bio-geographic factors are thus important for economic development levels, either directly or indirectly through geo-human interaction.

First, we show that simple geographic forces play a role in understanding differences in current prosperity and income. This can be partially traced back to deep roots, such as the Agricultural Revolution, which allowed for a transition from a hunter-gatherer society to a farmer society and enabled the building of institutions (this gave the Eurasian continent a head start). Second, we analyse the importance of geo-human interaction for explaining current prosperity levels. There is special attention for the role of embodied institional knowledge incorporated in international migration flows for helping us understand the ancestry-adjusted impact of bio-geographic and institutional factors (which helps explain the reversal of fortune hypothesis). Eventually, bio-geographic factors are thus important for economic development levels, either directly or indirectly through geo-human interaction.