|
on Evolutionary Economics |
| By: | Foster, Dugald; Postma, Erik; Lamba, Shakti; Mesoudi, Alex (University of Exeter) |
| Abstract: | Explaining how cooperation evolves is a major research programme in the biological and social sciences. In this study we tested evolutionary theories of human cooperation in a real-world social dilemma: joint liability microfinance, in which groups of borrowers must cooperate to successfully repay a shared loan. We used pre-registered Bayesian multilevel models to estimate meta-analytic associations between loan repayment and proxies of four evolutionary mechanisms proposed to support cooperation: relatedness, reciprocity, partner choice, and punishment. A systematic search of the microfinance literature yielded 73 effect estimates for 11 proxies of evolutionary mechanisms analysed in 11 separate meta-analyses. Punishment-based variables showed the strongest positive meta-analytic associations with loan repayment, with mixed results for other mechanisms. However, estimates varied widely in their certainty, with generally high levels of between-study heterogeneity. Our results provide some evidence for evolutionary mechanisms supporting cooperation in real-world contexts, but also indicate there are non-generalisable findings and/or reproducibility issues in the microfinance literature. |
| Date: | 2025–09–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:ykfhb_v1 |
| By: | Battaglia, Marianna (Universidad de Alicante); Egyir, John (University of Barcelona); Garcia-Hombrados, Jorge (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | We examine the empirical relationship between exposure to disasters and tightness of social norms, focusing on the practice of female genital cutting (FGC) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Social norms tightness refers to the extent to which cultural groups enforce adherence to norms and punish deviations. It is a key factor in shaping how societies function and individuals behave, influencing everything from social order and conflict to collective effort and institutional dynamics, and often emerges and evolves as an adaptive response to adverse events. Drawing on occurrences of epidemics and natural disasters, we find that individuals surveyed in the aftermath of a disaster in their region adhere 4 to 6 percent of a standard deviation more closely to the opinions about FGC in their groups compared to those interviewed just before the disaster occurred. This effect is particularly pronounced among women and rural populations. By examining variations in early life exposure to disasters across birth cohorts within countries, we find that this effect persists over time and is strongest when the disaster occurs during the transition from childhood to early adolescence. |
| Keywords: | natural disasters, epidemics, cooperation, social norms, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | D1 D7 I15 O1 O55 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18144 |
| By: | Roland Bénabou; Luca Henkel |
| Abstract: | We review the economic literature on self-image, which conceptualizes identity as a set of beliefs about one’s core traits, values, goals, and social ties. Self-image concerns lead individuals to process information and make choices in non-standard ways that help affirm and protect certain valued identities. We first present the main cognitive mechanisms involved within a simple unifying framework. We then survey the extensive laboratory, online, and field experimental literature on the nature and behavioral implications of self-image concerns. We discuss in particular how they give rise to information and decision avoidance, motivated memory and beliefs, excuse-driven behavior, preferences for truth-telling, hypothetical bias, moral cleansing and moral licensing, collective identities, political preferences, and other forms of self-signaling or self-deception. We subsequently discuss common empirical strategies used to identify self-image concerns, as well as the threats to their validity and how to alleviate them. We conclude by outlining open questions and directions for future research on the belief-based approach to identity. |
| Keywords: | self-image, identity, motivated beliefs, belief-based utility, behavioral economics, experimental economics |
| JEL: | D01 D91 C90 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12147 |
| By: | Brendon G. Anderson |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we consider finite-strategy approximations of infinite-strategy evolutionary games. We prove that such approximations converge to the true dynamics over finite-time intervals, under mild regularity conditions which are satisfied by classical examples, e.g., the replicator dynamics. We identify and formalize novel characteristics in evolutionary games: choice mobility, and its complement choice paralysis. Choice mobility is shown to be a key sufficient condition for the long-time limiting behavior of finite-strategy approximations to coincide with that of the true infinite-strategy game. An illustrative example is constructed to showcase how choice paralysis may lead to the infinite-strategy game getting "stuck, " even though every finite approximation converges to equilibrium. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2509.10567 |
| By: | Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron; Barbara Kamińska |
| Abstract: | Pluralistic ignorance is a puzzling social psychological phenomenon in which the majority of group members privately reject a norm yet mistakenly believe that most others accept it. Consequently, they publicly comply with the norm. This phenomenon has significant implications for politics, economics, and organizational dynamics because it can mask widespread support for change and hinder collective responses to large-scale societal challenges. The aim of this work is to demonstrate how agent-based modeling, a computational approach well-suited for studying complex social systems, can be applied to investigate pluralistic ignorance. Rather than providing a systematic literature review, we focus on several models, including our own two models based on the psychological Social Response Context Model, as well as two other representative models: one of the first and most influential computational models of self-enforcing norms, and a model of opinion expression based on a silence game. For all of these models, we provide custom NetLogo implementations, publicly available at https://barbarakaminska.github.io/NetLogo-Pluralistic-ignorance/, which allow users not only to run their own simulations but also to follow the algorithms step by step. In conclusion, we note that despite differences in assumptions and structures, these models consistently reproduce pluralistic ignorance, suggesting that it may be a robust emergent phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | Pluralistic ignorance; Social Response Context Model; Collective adaptation; Opinion dynamics; Agent-based modeling; NetLogo; Complex systems |
| JEL: | C63 D72 D91 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahh:wpaper:worms2508 |
| By: | Zhu, Chen (China Agricultural University); Böckerman, Petri (University of Jyväskylä) |
| Abstract: | In genetics, heterosis describes how crossbreeding produces offspring with greater fitness than their parents. We propose a socioeconomic heterosis hypothesis: does genetic diversity at the individual level benefit economic success? Using UK Biobank data (N=488, 152), we find that people with higher genome-wide heterozygosity perform better in modern societies. Greater heterozygosity is positively linked to education, income, leadership, height, and ownership of a home and car. A one standard deviation increase corresponds to about 0.75% higher income and modest gains in schooling and assets. Results are robust to additional controls and corrections for multiple testing, with no effects on migration, diabetes, or neuroticism. Effects rise steadily across the observed range and are stronger for men, suggesting sexual selection. Because heterozygosity is fixed at conception, our findings reveal an underappreciated endowment shaping human capital, wealth accumulation, and inequality. |
| Keywords: | socioeconomic achievement, education, income, genetic heterozygosity, heterosis, sexual selection |
| JEL: | J10 J24 D31 I14 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18113 |
| By: | Thomas F Epper (LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IÉSEG School Of Management [Puteaux]); Ivan Mitrouchev (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes) |
| Abstract: | Social preferences are widely studied in behavioral economics, with some validated survey modules to measure trust, altruism and reciprocity. Despite growing interest in inequality aversion-defined as an individual's dislike of disparities in outcomes-there is, however, no dedicated and validated module to assess this specific social preference. Moreover, inequality aversion and altruism are often hard to disentangle, which points to the need for a unified module that incorporates both preferences. To bridge these gaps, we introduce a novel survey module that captures general attitudes toward inequality aversion and altruism. This module was developed and validated through an experimental study with a representative U.S. population sample. Our results demonstrate that the proposed module effectively captures variations in both inequality aversion and altruism, with consistent reliability across individual heterogeneity. This tool offers researchers a standardized and generalizable approach for measuring inequality aversion and altruism, paving the way for future studies and across diverse contexts. |
| Abstract: | Les préférences sociales sont largement étudiées en économie comportementale, avec certains modules d'enquête validés pour mesurer la confiance, l'altruisme et la réciprocité. Malgré l'intérêt croissant pour l'aversion à l'inégalité, définie comme l'aversion d'un individu pour les disparités de résultats, il n'existe toutefois aucun module dédié et validé pour évaluer cette préférence sociale spécifique. De plus, l'aversion pour les inégalités et l'altruisme sont souvent difficiles à distinguer, ce qui souligne la nécessité d'un module unifié intégrant ces deux préférences. Pour combler ces lacunes, nous introduisons un nouveau module d'enquête qui permet de saisir les attitudes générales à l'égard de l'aversion pour les inégalités et de l'altruisme. Ce module a été développé et validé dans le cadre d'une étude expérimentale menée auprès d'un échantillon représentatif de la population américaine. Nos résultats démontrent que le module proposé capture efficacement les variations tant en matière d'aversion pour les inégalités que d'altruisme, avec une fiabilité constante malgré l'hétérogénéité des individus. Cet outil offre aux chercheurs une approche standardisée et généralisable pour mesurer l'aversion pour les inégalités et l'altruisme, ouvrant la voie à de futures études dans divers contextes. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, Altruism, Redistribution, Social preferences, Survey instrument |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05247375 |