<Li> Hernando Zuleta, of the Universidad del Rosario, has proposed that where output fluctuations are more profound, i.e. areas that experience winter, saving is more pronounced, which leads to the adoption or creation of capital - intensive technologies . </Li> <Li> Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson of MIT argued in 2001 that in places where Europeans faced high mortality rates, they could not settle and were more likely to set up exploitative institutions . These institutions offered no protection for private property or checks and balances against government expropriation . They assert that after controlling for the effect of institutions, countries in Africa or those closer to the equator do not have lower incomes . This work has been disputed by David Albouy, who argues that European mortality rates in the study were badly mismeasured, falsely supporting its conclusion . </Li> <Li> The authors of "Brain size, cranial morphology, climate, and time machines" assert that colder climates increase brain size, resulting in an intelligence differential . </Li> <P> In a 2006 paper discussing the potential impact of global warming on wealth, John K. Horowitz of the University of Maryland predicted that a 2 - degree Fahrenheit temperature increase across all countries would cause a decrease of 2 to 6 percent in world GDP, with a best estimate of around 3.5 percent . United Nations Secretary - General Ban Ki - moon has expressed concern that global warming will exacerbate the existing poverty in Africa . </P>

Where are the less prosperous countries of europe located