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This paper was published in the American Economic Review in 1995.

Download the Paper (3.2 MB, PDF file) - March 1, 1995 Tell a colleague about it. Printing Tips: Select 'print as image' in the Acrobat print dialog if you have trouble printing.

ABSTRACT:
This paper explores the evolutionary foundations of altruism among siblings and extends biologists' kin-selection theory to a richer class of games between relatives. It shows that a population will resist invasion by dominant mutant genes if individuals maximize a "semi-Kantian" utility function in games with their siblings. It is shown that a population that resists invasion by dominant mutants may be invaded by recessive mutants. Conditions are found under which a population resists invasion by dominant and also by recessive mutants. (JEL C70, D10, D63)

SUGGESTED CITATION:
Ted Bergstrom, "On the Evolution of Altruistic Ethical Rules for Siblings" (March 1, 1995). Department of Economics, UCSB. Ted Bergstrom. Paper 1995A.
http://repositories.cdlib.org/ucsbecon/bergstrom/1995A