An evolutionary theory of monogamy

Marco Francesconi, Christian Ghiglino*, Motty Perry

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents a non-cooperative evolutionary model to explain the widespread diffusion of lifelong monogamous families. The essential condition, unique to humans, is the overlap of children of different ages. Under this condition, together with the salience of paternal investment and fatherhood uncertainty, monogamy attains a greater survivorship than serial monogamy and polygyny. This result is robust to a number of extensions, including the presence of kin ties, resource inequality, group marriage, and the risk of adult mortality.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)605-628
Number of pages24
JournalJournal of Economic Theory
Volume166
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2016
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

  • Free riding
  • Overlapping generations
  • Polygyny, kinship
  • Serial monogamy
  • Social norms

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