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Published in the May 2007 issue of the American Economic Review Vol 97, Issue 2, pages 482-486

Download the Paper (144 K, PDF file) - May 1, 2007 Tell a colleague about it. Printing Tips: Select 'print as image' in the Acrobat print dialog if you have trouble printing.

ABSTRACT:
The article focuses on the economics of family partnerships. It states an allegory involving a prehistoric couple who split their responsibilities of gathering food and building a fire to create econometric models for family behavior. In theory, monogamous couples have exactly the same interest in their reproductive success, hence completely shared interest in their children. This is not the case in practice, as a variety of marital problems, divorce, and remarriage adversely affect the equation. The observed fact that an increase in a society's wealth tends to decrease family size runs counter to evolutionary biologic theory. No one theory in economics or biology has an adequate explanation for the reduction in family size as wealth increases. A variety of outside factors, notably the decline in child mortality and the change from an agricultural to an urban society, affect the models in both disciplines.

SUGGESTED CITATION:
Ted C. Bergstrom, "Some Evolutionary Economics of Family Partnerships" (May 1, 2007). Department of Economics, UCSB. Ted Bergstrom. Paper 2007b.
http://repositories.cdlib.org/ucsbecon/bergstrom/2007b