Helpers at parents' nest: A game theoretic approach

An overlapping-generation model is presented, which examines the evolution of helper-at-the-nest behavior. The basic conception in developing the model is that evolutionary stability, and not maximization of fitness (or inclusive fitness), should be considered as the criterion for evolution. The model outlines the conditions for helping (or delayed dispersal), and the conditions for non-helping (early dispersal) to be evolutionarily stable, as well as the conditions under which both strategies are stable. The model also demonstrates the (quite anticipated) possibility for a parent-offspring conflict with respect to helping behavior.