The origin of utility: Sexual selection and conspicuous consumption

Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

Volumn 72, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 51-69

  De Fraja, Gianni ^a,b,c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF ROME TOR VERGATA   (Italy)

^c CEPR   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Conspicuous consumption; Darwin; Evolution; Natural selection; Sexual selection; Utility; Veblen

Indexed keywords

EID: 70349471276     PISSN: 01672681     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2009.05.019     Document Type: Article

References (80)

1. Alchian A.A. Uncertainty, evolution and economic theory. Journal of Political Economy 58 (1950) 211-222
2. Andersson M. Sexual Selection (1994), Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
3. Bagwell L.S., and Bernheim B.D. Veblen effects in a theory of conspicuous consumption. American Economic Review 86 (1996) 349-373
4. Barrett L., Dunbar R., and Lycett J. Human Evolutionary Psychology (2002), Palgrave, Basingstoke
5. Becker G.S. Altruism, egoism, and genetic fitness: economics and sociobiology. Journal of Economic Literature 14 (1976) 817-826
6. Bergstrom C.T., Számadó S., and Lachmann M. Separating equilibria in continuous signalling games. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society, B 357 (2002) 1595-1606
7. Bergstrom T.C. On the evolution of altruistic ethical rules for siblings. American Economic Review 85 (1995) 58-81
8. Bergstrom T.C. Economics in a family way. Journal of Economic Literature 34 (1996) 1903-1934
9. Bester H., and Güth W. Is altruism evolutionarily stable?. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 34 (1998) 193-209
10. Binmore K. Game Theory and the Social Contract. Vol. I: Playing Fair (1994), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
11. Bisin A., and Verdier T. The economics of cultural transmission and the dynamics of preferences. Journal of Economic Theory 97 (2001) 298-319
12. Buss D.M. The Evolution of Desire (1994), Basic Books, New York
13. Buss D.M. Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind. II edition (2004), Pearson Education, New York
14. Cole H.L., Mailath G.J., and Postlewaite A. Social norms, savings behavior, and growth. Journal of Political Economy 100 (1992) 1092-1125
15. Corneo G., and Jeanne O. Conspicuous consumption, snobbism and conformism. Journal of Public Economics 66 (1997) 55-71
16. Cowen R., and Lipps J.H. The origin of feathers and the origin of flight in birds. In: Cowen R. (Ed). History of Life. 3rd edition (2000), Blackwell Science, Malden, MA (Chapter 13-14)
17. Cox D. Biological basics and the economics of the family. Journal of Economic Perspectives 21 2 (2007) 91-108
18. Cox D., and Fafchamps M. Extended family and kinship networks: economic insights and evolutionary directions. In: Schultz T.P., and Strauss J. (Eds). Handbook of Development Economics vol. 4 (2008), North-Holland, Amsterdam 3711-3784
19. Cox D., and Stark O. On the demand for grandchildren: tied transfers and the demonstration effect. Journal of Public Economics 89 (2005) 1665-1697
20. Darwin C. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), John Murray, London
21. Dawkins R. The Extended Phenotype (1982), W.H. Freeman, Oxford
22. De Fraja, G., 2006. The origin of utility. CEPR Discussion Paper 5859.
23. Dekel E., Ely J.C., and Yilankaya O. Evolution of preferences. Review of Economic Studies 74 (2007) 685-704
24. Dekel E., and Scotchmer S. On the evolution of attitudes towards risk in winner-take-all games. Journal of Economic Theory 87 (1999) 125-143
25. Diamond J. The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee (1991), Random House, London
26. Dixit A.K., and Pindyck R.S. Investment under Uncertainty (1994), Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
27. Eswaran M., and Kotwal A. A theory of gender differences in parental altruism. Canadian Journal of Economics 37 (2004) 918-950
28. Fisher R.A. The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection (1930), Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK
29. Frank R.H. If Homo Economicus could choose his own utility function, would he want one with a conscience?. American Economic Review 77 (1987) 593-604
30. Frank R.H. Passion Within Reason (1988), W.W. Norton & Company, New York
31. Friedman M. The methodology of positive economics. In: Friedman M. (Ed). Essays in Positive Economics (1953), Chicago University Press, Chicago 3-43
32. Galor O., and Moav O. Natural selection and the origin of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics 117 (2002) 1133-1191
33. Grafen A. Biological signals as handicaps. Journal of Theoretical Biology 144 (1990) 517-546
34. Grafen A. Sexual selection unhandicapped by the Fisher process. Journal of Theoretical Biology 144 (1990) 473-516
35. Grafen A. Fertility and labour supply in Femina Economica. Journal of Theoretical Biology 194 (1998) 429-455
36. Grafen A. Optimization of inclusive fitness. Journal of Theoretical Biology 238 (2006) 541-563
37. Grafen A. A theory of Fisher's reproductive value. Journal of Mathematical Biology 53 (2006) 15-60
38. Hansson I., and Stuart C. Malthusian selection of preferences. American Economic Review 80 (1990) 529-544
39. Hopkins E., and Kornienko T. Running to keep in the same place: consumer choice as a game of status. American Economic Review 94 (2004) 1085-1107
40. Horan R.D., Bulte E., and Shogren J.F. How trade saved humanity from biological exclusion: an economic theory of Neanderthal extinction. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 58 (2005) 1-29
41. Kahneman D., Knetsch J.L., and Thaler R.H. Experimental tests of the endowment effect and the Coase theorem. Journal of Political Economy 98 (1990) 1325-1348
42. Kanazawa S. Can evolutionary psychology explain reproductive behavior in the contemporary United States?. Sociological Quarterly 44 (2003) 291-302
43. Koçkesen L., Ok E.A., and Sethi R. Evolution of interdependent preferences in aggregative games. Games and Economic Behavior 31 (2000) 303-310
44. Koçkesen L., Ok E.A., and Sethi R. The strategic advantage of negatively interdependent preferences. Journal of Economic Theory 92 (2000) 274-299
45. Kohn M., and Mithen S. Handaxes: products of sexual selection?. Antiquity 53 (1999) 518-526
46. Kreps D.M., and Wilson R. Sequential equilibria. Econometrica 50 (1982) 863-894
47. Leonard D., and van Long N. Optimal Control Theory and Static Optimization in Economics (1992), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
48. McEwan I. Saturday (2005), Jonathan Cape, London
49. Miller G.F. The Mating Mind (2000), Heinemann, London
50. Murdock G.P., and White D. The standard cross-cultural sample. Ethnology 8 (1969) 329-369
51. O'Donald P. Sexual selection and territorial behavior. Heredity 18 (1963) 361-364
52. Ofek H. Second Nature: Economic Origins of Human Evolution (2001), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
53. Ok E.A., and Vega-Redondo F. On the evolution of individualistic preferences: an incomplete information scenario. Journal of Economic Theory 97 (2001) 231-254
54. Postlewaite A. The social basis of interdependent preferences. European Economic Review 42 (1998) 779-800
55. Ridley M. The Origins of Virtue (1996), Viking, London
56. Ridley M. Nature via Nurture (2003), Fourth Estate, London
57. Robson A.J. The evolution of strategic behavior. Canadian Journal of Economics 28 (1995) 17-41
58. Robson A.J. The evolution of attitudes to risk: lottery tickets and relative wealth. Games and Economic Behavior 14 (1996) 190-207
59. Robson A.J. The biological basis of economic behavior. Journal of Economic Literature 39 (2001) 11-33
60. Robson A.J. Why would nature give individuals utility functions?. Journal of Political Economy 109 (2001) 900-914
61. Robson A.J., and Kaplan H.S. The evolution of human life expectancy and intelligence in hunter-gatherer economies. American Economic Review 93 (2003) 150-169
62. Rogers A.R. Evolution of time preference by natural-selection. American Economic Review 84 (1994) 460-481
63. Ryan M.J., Tuttle M.D., and Rand A.S. Bat predation and sexual advertisement in a neotropical anuran. American Naturalist 119 (1982) 136-139
64. Samuelson L. Information-based relative consumption effects. Econometrica 72 (2004) 93-118
65. Samuelson L. Economic theory and experimental economics. Journal of Economic Literature 43 (2005) 65-107
66. Samuelson L., and Swinkels J. Information, evolution and utility. Theoretical Economics 1 (2006) 119-142
67. Seabright P. The Company of Strangers (2004), Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
68. Spence M.A. Job market signalling. Quarterly Journal of Economics 87 (1973) 355-374
69. Stark L. From lemons to lemonade: an ethnographic sketch of late twentieth-century panhandling. New England Journal of Public Policy 8 (1992) 341-352
70. Thaler R.H. Toward a positive theory of consumer choice. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 1 (1980) 39-60
71. Trivers R. Social Evolution (1985), Benjamin Cummings, Reading, MA
72. Trostel P.A., and Taylor G.A. A theory of time preference. Economic Inquiry 39 (2001) 379-395
73. Veblen T. The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), Penguin Books (1994) edition, London
74. Warneryd K. Rent, risk, and replication-preference adaptation in winner-take-all markets. Games and Economic Behavior 41 (2002) 344-364
75. Williams G.C. Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought (1966), Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
76. Wrangham R., and Petersen D. Demonic Males (1996), Bloomsbury, London
77. Yosef R. Females seek males with ready cache. Natural History 37 (1991)
78. Zahavi A. Mate selection: a selection for a handicap. Journal of Theoretical Biology 53 (1975) 205-213
79. Zahavi A. Sexual selection, signal selection and the handicap principle. In: Jamieson B.G.M. (Ed). Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Birds (2007), Science Publishers, Enfield, New Hampshire 143-160
80. Zahavi A., and Zahavi A. The Handicap Principle: A Missing Piece of Darwin's Puzzle (1997), Oxford University Press, Oxford