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on Evolutionary Economics |
| By: | Garfield, Zachary H (University of Mohammed VI Polytechnic); Redhead, Daniel Dr. |
| Abstract: | This chapter explores leadership and followership through the lens of evolutionary social science, integrating insights from anthropology, psychology, sociology, and biology. Leadership is defined as a process of social influence that facilitates group coordination and goal achievement, distinct from power or status. The chapter examines how leadership emerges and functions across diverse socio-cultural and ecological contexts, highlighting the roles of dominance and prestige in shaping leadership strategies. It also underscores the reciprocal relationship between leaders and followers, where followership is an active and adaptive social strategy. Drawing on ethnographic and theoretical frameworks, the chapter reviews leadership in egalitarian and hierarchical societies, from situational leadership in small-scale groups to formalized structures in chiefdoms and stratified societies. Key theories, such as dominance-prestige models, reverse dominance hierarchies, and managerial mutualism, are discussed to illuminate the ecological drivers and cultural variability of leadership. By adopting an evolutionary approach, this work reveals the universal and variable dimensions of leadership, offering a deeper understanding of its role in human social organization and group success. |
| Date: | 2025–03–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:r7ekn_v1 |
| By: | Yuval Salant; Jorg L. Spenkuch; David Almog |
| Abstract: | We explore the role of memory for choice behavior in unfamiliar environments. Using a unique data set, we document that decision makers exhibit a "memory premium." They tend to choose in-memory alternatives over out-of-memory ones, even when the latter are objectively better. Consistent with well-established regularities regarding the inner workings of human memory, the memory premium is associative, subject to interference and repetition effects, and decays over time. Even as decision makers gain familiarity with the environment, the memory premium remains economically large. Our results imply that the ease with which past experiences come to mind plays an important role in shaping choice behavior. |
| JEL: | D01 D03 D87 D91 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33649 |
| By: | Stelios Michalopoulos |
| Abstract: | In this Handbook chapter, I examine how integrating ethnographic and folklore records has shaped research on culture and economics in the 21st century. Advances in text analysis techniques and the incorporation of historical and satellite data have transformed the field. I explore how George Peter Murdock's ethnographic contributions and Yuri Berezkin's seminal folklore motif index have been utilized to shed light on the roots of comparative development. I conclude by proposing a methodology for leveraging Large Language Models to extract cultural insights from folklore motifs, demonstrating how ancestral narratives can complement ethnographic records and offer valuable perspectives on societal norms and the historical forces shaping economic behavior today. |
| JEL: | O10 Z10 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33700 |