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The Savanna Principle

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Author Info
Satoshi Kanazawa (Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand)
Abstract

Why do microeconomic theories (such as decision theory and game theory) often fail to predict human behavior despite their mathematical elegance and deductive rigor? I suggest that such empirical failures stem from the theory's misconception of how the human brain functions. Drawing on evolutionary psychology, I propose the Savanna Principle, which posits that a hypothesis about human behavior fails to the extent that its scope conditions and assumptions are inconsistent with the ancestral environment, and its experimental corollary, that the Savanna Principle holds (and the hypothesis fails) to the extent that the conditions of the experiment resemble the ancestral environment. I suggest that the Savanna Principle and its corollary might together explain the relative empirical failure of noncooperative game theory and public choice theory, and the relative success of network exchange theory and competitive price theory tested in double auction markets in experimental economics. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/mde.1130
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Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Managerial and Decision Economics.

Volume (Year): 25 (2004)
Issue (Month): 1 ()
Pages: 41-54
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Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:25:y:2004:i:1:p:41-54

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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. Rogers, Alan R, 1994. "Evolution of Time Preference by Natural Selection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 460-81, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Ben-Ner, Avner & Putterman, Louis, 2000. "On some implications of evolutionary psychology for the study of preferences and institutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 91-99, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Isaac, R Mark & Walker, James M, 1988. "Communication and Free-Riding Behavior: The Voluntary Contribution Mechanism," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(4), pages 585-608, October.
  4. Cosmides, Leda & Tooby, John, 1994. "Better than Rational: Evolutionary Psychology and the Invisible Hand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 327-32, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Vernon L. Smith, 1962. "An Experimental Study of Competitive Market Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70, pages 322. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Jack Hirshleifer, 1998. "The Bioeconomic causes of war," UCLA Economics Working Papers 777, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Williams, Arlington W, 1980. "Computerized Double-Auction Markets: Some Initial Experimental Results," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(3), pages 235-58, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Paul H. Rubin & E. Somanathan, 1999. "Humans as factors of production: an evolutionary analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(7-8), pages 441-455.
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  1. Christoph H. Loch & D. Charles Galunic & Susan Schneider, 2006. "Balancing cooperation and competition in human groups: the role of emotional algorithms and evolution," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2-3), pages 217-233. [Downloadable!]
  2. Gad Saad, 2006. "Applying evolutionary psychology in understanding the Darwinian roots of consumption phenomena," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2-3), pages 189-201. [Downloadable!]
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