Perry, Motty, Francesconi, Marco and Ghiglino, Christian (2016) An evolutionary theory of monogamy. Journal of Economic Theory, 166 . pp. 605-628. doi:10.1016/j.jet.2016.10.001 ISSN 0022-0531.

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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.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Economic Theory
Publisher:	Academic Press
ISSN:	0022-0531
Official Date:	November 2016
Dates:	Date Event November 2016 Published 13 October 2016 Available 6 October 2016 Accepted
Volume:	166
Page Range:	pp. 605-628
DOI:	10.1016/j.jet.2016.10.001
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit:	11 October 2016
Date of first compliant Open Access:	13 May 2018

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