Until a few generations ago, humans made their living by foraging, like other animals. We have therefore inherited genes that allowed our ancestors to thrive as hunters and gatherers. Thriving in a modern economy requires very different behaviours but we cope because the human brain evolved to...

A characteristic feature of economic development is the ever changing structure of consumption patterns. Reducing the explanation of this phenomenon to changing prices, finally caused by changes in the availability of goods (or characteristics), would neglect a major force driving this change,...

Two different approaches have been proposed to explain the rise and decline of industries. Schumpeter (1942/1947) argued that creative destruction was a necessary part of innovation. Rybczynski (1955) demonstrated in a two-factor model that an increase in one factor leads to a decrease in output...

During phylogeny, man adapted for culture in ways other primates did not. This key adaptation is the one that enabled humans to understand other individuals as intentional agents like the self. This genetic event opened the way for new and powerful cultural processes but did not specify the...

Witt (1997) proposes a model of technological adoption in markets characterized by network externalities in which superior technological standards have smaller critical mass, so that they can easily displace inferior alternatives. This paper builds on his model to show that the critical mass of...

To analyze strategic interaction which may induce externalities, we designed Bathroom Games with frequency-dependent stage payoffs. Two people regularly use a bathroom, before leaving they can either clean up the mess made, or not. Cleaning up involves an effort, so this option always gives a...

To explain emergent cultural phenomena, this paper argues, it is inevitable to understand the evolution of complex human cognitive adaptations and their links to the population-level dynamics of cultural variation. On the one hand, the process of cultural transmission is influenced and...

Amartya Sen has advanced a number of distinct arguments against utilitarianism and ‘utility’-based views more generally. One of these invokes various ways in which underdogs can ‘adapt’ and learn to live with their situations. Sen’s argument is related to Jon Elster’s discussion of...

The models used in economic theory, though necessarily abstract, should be consistent with the nature of decision making behavior. A formal metaphor of individual behavior as a continuous flow indicates certain requirements that theories of consumer, producer, and economywide behavior should...

This paper shows how sustainable consumption patterns can spread within a population via processes of social learning even though a strong individual learning bias may favor environmentally harmful products. We present a model depicting how the biased transmission of different behaviors via...