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on Evolutionary Economics |
| By: | Kazi Abdul, Mannan |
| Abstract: | Evidence of the evolutionary mechanisms in biodiversity, physiology and physical adaptations, and reproduction exists in the fossil record and across extant species; and in the development of psychology, civilization and theology in the human species. How is our knowledge of the origins of our humanity clarified by these examples? What were the circumstances of our beginnings as a uniquely human species in this world? While the question is straightforward, the answer appears to be elusive. In fact, the answer is actually easy to identify; the beginnings of the human species are obvious, and are exemplified in every human individual. Every human bears upon their body physical evidence which connects us to the moment of our own birth; the navel is the remaining proof of our arrival on earth, and of our separation from the mother who birthed us. Despite the many differences among the peoples of the world, this is one aspect of our existence shared universally by everyone. This paper argues, given the evidence of the human navel, that our shared humanity is the result of being born and then separated from a mother; human women are the vessels of human existence and humanity itself. Every human individual receives this humanity through countless generations of ever more related ancestral women, ultimately from the very first human mother. Although we presently lack the scientific method to show these genealogies of connection between individuals, this paper explores how understanding these connections help to answer the question of human origins. |
| Keywords: | human, origin, evolution, fossil, civilization, physiology, reproduction, life-cycle, biodiversity, structural-diversity, psychology, theology |
| JEL: | Q0 Q00 Y8 Y9 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:105016&r=all |
| By: | Chopra, Felix (University of Bonn); Eisenhauer, Philipp (University of Chicago); Falk, Armin (briq, University of Bonn); Graeber, Thomas W (Harvard Business School) |
| Abstract: | Standard consumption utility is linked in time to a consumption event, whereas the timing of prosocial utility flows is ambiguous. Prosocial utility may depend on the actual utility consequences for others – it is consequence-dated – or it may be related to the act of giving and is thus choice-dated. Even though most prosocial decisions involve intertemporal trade-offs, existing models of other-regarding preferences abstract from the time signature of utility flows, limiting their explanatory scope. Building on a canonical intertemporal choice framework, we characterize the behavioral implications of the time structure of prosocial utility. We conduct a high-stakes donation experiment that allows us to identify non-parametrically and calibrate structurally the different motives from their unique time profiles. We find that the universe of our choice data can only be explained by a combination of choice- and consequence-dated prosocial utility. Both motives are pervasive and negatively correlated at the individual level. |
| Keywords: | altruism, donation, intertemporal decision-making, time inconsistency |
| JEL: | C91 D12 D64 D90 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14059&r=all |
| By: | Frans van Winden (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes and applies a formal theoretical model of an automatic (prosocial and antisocial) caring mechanism: the informational affective tie mechanism (iATM) model. Novel in the formalization is the factoring in of information extraction concerning the behavioral type of agents interacted with, jointly with the contexts of these interactions and the attention they attract. Empirical support comes from five very different data sources: experimental findings, econometric results, model-based brain scanning (fMRI) findings, additional neurobiological evidence, and translational and evolutionary evidence. Applications address: the impact of time pressure and cognitive load; the endogeneity of different behavioral response patterns (like tit-for-tat); social preference drift and tipping points in collective action; why behavioral survey questions can be problematic; spread of caring through affective networks, an uncertainty-based link between social-, risk- and time-preferences; happiness and identity; and, the neglected political economic role of communities (next to centralized authorities and markets). The endogeneity of caring preferences sharply contrasts with the standard assumption in economic theory of stable (mostly selfish) preferences. Moreover, the provision of a neurobiological underpinning moves the iATM model away from the standard as-if approach towards an as-is approach. Although the focus is on humans, some attention will be paid also to the model’s relevance for studying other species. |
| Keywords: | uncertainty-based caring, informational model, evidence, neurobiology, evolution, applications |
| JEL: | D9 A12 D8 |
| Date: | 2021–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20210012&r=all |
| By: | Eoin F. McGuirk; Nathan Nunn |
| Abstract: | Arid regions of Africa are expanding by thousands of square kilometers a year, potentially disturbing pastoral routes that have been forged over a long period of time. This disturbance is often said to explain why “herder-farmer” conflicts have erupted in recent years, as pastoralists and agriculturalists compete for increasingly scarce resources. We examine this hypothesis by combining ecological and ethnographic data on the location of pastoral ethnic groups with grid-cell level data on violent conflict in Africa from 1989 to 2018. First, using ecological data, (i) we confirm that areas suited to both agriculture and pastoralism are particularly prone to conflict relative to either agricultural or pastoral areas alone; and (ii) we find that the effect of precipitation shocks on conflict in these agro-pastoral zones is negative at the country-level, but not at the cell-level. To explain this pattern, we compile data on the historical location of borders between both types of ethnic groups. We find that droughts in pastoral areas lead to conflict in neighboring agricultural areas. This spillover mechanism appears to explain much of the negative overall relationship between precipitation and conflict in the sample. It implies that agro-pastoral conflict is caused by the displacement of pastoral groups due to low precipitation in their homelands. This finding establishes one mechanism through which climate change can lead to more conflict in agro-pastoral zones. |
| JEL: | N10 Q54 Z1 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28243&r=all |