Economics in Nature: Social Dilemmas, Mate Choice and Biological Markets - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521650143 ISBN 13: 9780521650144

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2001

Synopsis

Studies of sexual selection, interspecific mutualism, and intraspecific cooperation show that individuals exchange commodities to their mutual benefit. The exchange values of commodities are a source of conflict, and behavioral mechanisms such as partner choice and contest between competitors determines the composition of trading pairs or groups. These "biological markets" can be examined to gain a better understanding of the underlying principles of evolutionary ecology. In this volume scientists from different disciplines combine insights from economics, evolutionary biology, and the social sciences to look at comparative aspects of economic behavior in humans and other animals.

About this title

Book Description:

Since the development of game theory, the analysis of animal behaviour using the theories of economics has become a growing field of biological research in which models of games and markets play an important role. This volume takes a multi-disciplinary approach, combining insights from economics, evolutionary biology and the social sciences to look at comparative aspects of economic behaviour in humans and other animals. Aimed primarily at evolutionary biologists and anthropologists, it will also appeal to psychologists and economists interested in an evolutionary approach.

About the Author:

Ronald Noe is a Professor at the University of Louis-Pasteur and the Department of Ecology, Physiology and Ethology (IPHC-CNRS), Strasbourg, France.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0521650143
• ISBN 13: 9780521650144
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 292
• Editor: Noë Ronald, Van Hooff Jan A. R. A. M., Hammerstein Peter