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Adam Smith on the future of experimental evolution and economics

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  • Maria Pia Paganelli

    (Trinity University)

Abstract

Experimental evolution is difficult to apply to humans because of the need to study possible changes over many generations. A similar method, though, may see history as a substitute for experiments. The 18th century economist Adam Smith uses methods compatible with the logic of experimental evolution, through the assumption of human homogeneity and the study of history, to explain endogenous variations of preferences and institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Pia Paganelli, 2018. "Adam Smith on the future of experimental evolution and economics," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 23-28, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbioec:v:20:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s10818-017-9265-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10818-017-9265-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Smith, Adam, 1759. "The Theory of Moral Sentiments," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1759.
    2. Smith,Vernon L., 2009. "Rationality in Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521133388.
    3. Maria Pia Paganelli, 2015. "Recent Engagements with Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 47(3), pages 363-394, September.
    4. Omar Al-Ubaydli & Daniel Houser & John Nye & Maria Pia Paganelli & Xiaofei Sophia Pan, 2013. "The Causal Effect of Market Priming on Trust: An Experimental Investigation Using Randomized Control," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-8, March.
    5. Terence C. Burnham & Aimee Dunlap & David W. Stephens, 2015. "Experimental Evolution and Economics," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(4), pages 21582440156, November.
    6. Smith, Vernon L. & Wilson, Bart J., 2018. "Equilibrium play in voluntary ultimatum games: Beneficence cannot be extorted," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 452-464.
    7. Terence C. Burnham, 2016. "Economics and evolutionary mismatch: humans in novel settings do not maximize," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 195-209, October.
    8. repec:feb:artefa:0087 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Henrich, Joseph & Boyd, Robert & Bowles, Samuel & Camerer, Colin & Fehr, Ernst & Gintis, Herbert (ed.), 2004. "Foundations of Human Sociality: Economic Experiments and Ethnographic Evidence from Fifteen Small-Scale Societies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199262052.
    10. Levitt, Steven D. & List, John A., 2009. "Field experiments in economics: The past, the present, and the future," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 1-18, January.
    11. Maria Pia Paganelli, 2015. "Recent Engagements with Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment," Center for the History of Political Economy Working Paper Series 2015-6, Center for the History of Political Economy.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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