Terence C. Burnham, Stephen E. G. Lea, Adrian V. Bell, Herbert Gintis, Paul W. Glimcher, Robert Kurzban, Leonhard Lades, Kevin McCabe, Karthik Panchanathan, Miriam Teschl, and Ulrich Witt
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035385
- eISBN:
- 9780262337717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035385.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, History of Economic Thought
This chapter explores how the economic model of individual behavior can be improved by incorporating a number of insights from evolutionary theory and complex systems theory. Insights from ...
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This chapter explores how the economic model of individual behavior can be improved by incorporating a number of insights from evolutionary theory and complex systems theory. Insights from psychology, the neurosciences, and the behavioral strand of economics may be better understood from an evolutionary and complexity perspective. It takes an integrated interdisciplinary approach to economic phenomena. Core concepts in economic theory (preference and choice) are clarified and Tinbergen’s “four questions” about the origins of behavior are used to provide a framework. Informed by Tinbergen, areas from behavioral science are presented which may be useful for understanding economic behavior: some are directly evolutionary, while others come from scientific contexts informed by evolutionary theory. Each area has yielded well researched ideas that provide considerable insight into human nature. It concludes with a review of where research stands today and where it could be directed in the future.Less
This chapter explores how the economic model of individual behavior can be improved by incorporating a number of insights from evolutionary theory and complex systems theory. Insights from psychology, the neurosciences, and the behavioral strand of economics may be better understood from an evolutionary and complexity perspective. It takes an integrated interdisciplinary approach to economic phenomena. Core concepts in economic theory (preference and choice) are clarified and Tinbergen’s “four questions” about the origins of behavior are used to provide a framework. Informed by Tinbergen, areas from behavioral science are presented which may be useful for understanding economic behavior: some are directly evolutionary, while others come from scientific contexts informed by evolutionary theory. Each area has yielded well researched ideas that provide considerable insight into human nature. It concludes with a review of where research stands today and where it could be directed in the future.
Thomas E. Currie, Peter Turchin, Jenna Bednar, Peter J. Richerson, Georg Schwesinger, Sven Steinmo, Romain Wacziarg, and John J. Wallis
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035385
- eISBN:
- 9780262337717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035385.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, History of Economic Thought
Some economists argue that institutions are the most important factor affecting variation in economic growth. We need, however, to better understand how and why institutions emerge and change. This ...
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Some economists argue that institutions are the most important factor affecting variation in economic growth. We need, however, to better understand how and why institutions emerge and change. This chapter develops a conceptual framework, informed by evolutionary theory and complexity science, that follows models of cultural evolution in viewing institutions as part of a nongenetic system of inheritance. This framework is used to examine how broad historical factors (not just economic factors) influence present-day institutional arrangements and economic outcomes, as well as how noninstitutional aspects of culture (e.g., values, beliefs) interact with institutions to shape behavior in particular contexts. Overall, this framework emphasizes the processes by which institutions evolve, and how they can coevolve with other institutions and culture. This approach is illustrated using four examples to demonstrate how evolution theory and complexity science can be used to study institutional emergence and change. Explicit models of the processes of institutional evolution need to be developed and then tested and assessed with data. This framework holds promise to bring together and synthesize the findings and insights from a range of different disciplines.Less
Some economists argue that institutions are the most important factor affecting variation in economic growth. We need, however, to better understand how and why institutions emerge and change. This chapter develops a conceptual framework, informed by evolutionary theory and complexity science, that follows models of cultural evolution in viewing institutions as part of a nongenetic system of inheritance. This framework is used to examine how broad historical factors (not just economic factors) influence present-day institutional arrangements and economic outcomes, as well as how noninstitutional aspects of culture (e.g., values, beliefs) interact with institutions to shape behavior in particular contexts. Overall, this framework emphasizes the processes by which institutions evolve, and how they can coevolve with other institutions and culture. This approach is illustrated using four examples to demonstrate how evolution theory and complexity science can be used to study institutional emergence and change. Explicit models of the processes of institutional evolution need to be developed and then tested and assessed with data. This framework holds promise to bring together and synthesize the findings and insights from a range of different disciplines.
