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The Fetters of the Sib: Weber Meets Darwin

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Author Info
Alger, Ingela () (Carleton University)
Weibull, Jörgen () (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics)

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Abstract

We analyze the effects of family ties on the incentives for productive effort. A family is modelled as a pair of altruistic siblings. Each sibling exerts effort to produce output under uncertainty and siblings may transfer output to each other. We show that altruism has a non-monotonic effect on effort. We study how this effect depends on "climate," the magnitude and volatility of returns to effort. We also analyze the evolutionary robustness of family ties and how this robustness depends on climate. We find that family ties will be stronger in milder climates than in harsher climates.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Stockholm School of Economics in its series Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance with number 682.

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Length: 41 pages
Date of creation: 13 Nov 2007
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Handle: RePEc:hhs:hastef:0682

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Related research
Keywords: altruism; family ties; moral hazard; evolutionary robustness;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, and Operations
D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation

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References listed on IDEAS
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    Other versions:
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Full references

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. Alger, Ingela & Weibull, Jörgen, 2007. "Family ties, incentives and development: a model of coerced altruism," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 681, Stockholm School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Ingela Alger & Jörgen Weibull, 2008. "The fetters of the sib: Weber meets Darwin," Working Papers hal-00354241_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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