The Evolutionary Foundations of Preferences

Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-1-009-84342-3
Verlag: Cambridge University Press & Assessment

Buch, Englisch, 410 Seiten

Reihe: Econometric Society Monographs

Preferences are the point of departure for economic analysis. Despite myriad experiments designed to characterize preferences, no consensus has been reached. In The Evolutionary Foundation of Preferences Arthur J. Robson and Larry Samuelson examine how economic preferences might be shaped by biological evolution. Theorizing that each of us is descended from a line of ancestors who were able to survive and to reproduce, they analyze how this fact may have affected modern preferences. Drawing on demographic models, they explain how different preferences induce different behaviors which lead toe different growth rates among respective subpopulations. People characterized by inducing the highest growth rate eventually comprise the overwhelming proportion of the population. Examining neuroscientific evidence that points to a cardinal or hedonic interpretation of utility, the authors discuss the implications of these interpretations and the challenges raised for welfare economics.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Robson, Arthur J.

Samuelson, Larry

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction; 2. Evolution of utility functions; 3. Impatience; 4. Discounting quality and quantity; 5. Risk; 6. Risk in age-structured populations; 7. Discounting and risk; 8. Adaptive utility; 9. The biotechnology of adaptive utility; 10. Engines of adaptation; 11. Hedonic utility; 12. Conclusions; Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Robson, Arthur J.
Arthur J Robson is Professor of Economics Emeritus at Simon Fraser University. He has been a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, at the Becker-Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago, and at Princeton University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and has received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.

Samuelson, Larry
Larry Samuelson is A. Douglas Melamed Professor of Economics at Yale University. He works in economic theory, with a particular interest in the evolutionary foundations of economic behavior. He has served as a co-editor of Econometrica, the American Economic Review, and the American Economic Review: Insights. He has served as president of the Game Theory Society and president of the Econometric Society.