A number of outstanding puzzles in economics may be resolved by recognizing that where members of a group benefit from mutual adherence to a social norm, agents may obey the norm and punish its violators, even when this behavior cannot be motivated by self-regarding, outcome-oriented...

Main description: Why do humans, uniquely among animals, cooperate in large numbers to advance projects for the common good? Contrary to the conventional wisdom in biology and economics, this generous and civic-minded behavior is widespread and cannot be explained simply by far-sighted...

Intro -- Series Foreword -- Preface -- I Introduction -- 1 Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: Origins, Evidence, and Consequences -- II The Behavioral Ecology of Cooperation -- 2 The Evolution of Cooperation in Primate Groups -- 3 The Natural History of Human Food Sharing and Cooperation:...