Response to Gonzalez and Özak's (2023) Replication Report
Gonzalez and Ozak ¨ (2023) provide a direct and successful replication of Dickens (2022). Using a reconstructed version of the main independent variables from the same original sources, in addition to an updated version of the source data, the replicators confirm the main finding of the original study. In addition to the replication, Gonzalez and Ozak ¨ (2023) develop an alternative measure of potential gains from inter-ethnic trade. They use this new measure in an interesting extension that delves deeper into the the specifics of the interethnic trade mechanism proposed and tested by Dickens (2022). In this response, I clarify two minor points about how the original data set was constructed, and contrast the potential shortcomings of the original and alternative measures of inter-ethnic gains from trade.