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Survival of the Most Foolish of Fools: The Limits of Evolutionary Selection Theory

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Elias Khalil ()

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Abstract

The paper investigates whether evolutionary selection, in nature or the market, ensures the survival of rational agents. It argues that once rationality appears, evolutionary selection can account for its diffusion—but cannot account for its appearance in the first place. This issue differs from the investigation of whether history matters. The issue of history or path-dependency focuses on whether evolutionary selection can favor the survival of the potentially most productive apparatus (in the biological or technological sense). To show this, the paper commences with the much-neglected difference between efficiency and productivity. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2000

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1023/A:1012230728158
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Springer in its journal Journal of Bioeconomics.

Volume (Year): 2 (2000)
Issue (Month): 3 (October)
Pages: 203-220
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Handle: RePEc:kap:jbioec:v:2:y:2000:i:3:p:203-220

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Web page: http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=103315

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Related research
Keywords: productivity; efficiency; hysteresis; path dependency; rationality; market selection; natural selection; optimization;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Witt, Ulrich, 1986. "Firms' market behavior under imperfect information and economic natural selection," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 265-290, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Robson, Arthur J., 1996. "The Evolution of Attitudes to Risk: Lottery Tickets and Relative Wealth," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 190-207, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-25, June.
  4. Hodgson, Geoffrey M, 1994. "Optimisation and Evolution: Winter's Critique of Friedman Revisited," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 413-30, August.
  5. David, Paul A, 1985. "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 332-37, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Kay, Neil M, 1995. "Alchian and 'The Alchian Thesis.'," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 2(2), pages 281-86, December.
  7. Metcalfe, J S, 1994. "Competition, Fisher's Principle and Increasing Returns in the Selection Process," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 327-46, November.
  8. Day, Richard H, 1982. "Irregular Growth Cycles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 406-14, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Bester, Helmut & Guth, Werner, 1998. "Is altruism evolutionarily stable?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 193-209, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Conlisk, John, 1980. "Costly optimizers versus cheap imitators," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 275-293, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Metcalfe, J.S. & Ramlogan, R. & Uyarra, E., 2002. "Economic Development and the Competitive Process," Centre on Regulation and Competition (CRC) Working papers 30612, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM). [Downloadable!]
  2. Deby Cassill, 2003. "Skew Selection: Nature Favors a Trickle-Down Distribution of Resources in Ants," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 83-96, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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