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On the Origin of the Family

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Francesconi, Marco

    ()

    (University of Essex)

  • Ghiglino, Christian

    ()

    (University of Essex)

  • Perry, Motty

    ()

    (Hebrew University, Jerusalem)

Abstract

This paper presents an overlapping generations model to explain why humans live in families rather than in other pair groupings. Since most non-human species are not familial, something special must be behind the family. It is shown that the two necessary features that explain the origin of the family are given by uncertain paternity and overlapping cohorts of dependent children. With such two features built into our model, and under the assumption that individuals care only for the propagation of their own genes, our analysis indicates that fidelity families dominate promiscuous pair bonding, in the sense that they can achieve greater survivorship and enhanced genetic fitness. The explanation lies in the free riding behavior that characterizes the interactions between competing fathers in the same promiscuous pair grouping. Kin ties could also be related to the emergence of the family. When we consider a kinship system in which an adult male transfers resources not just to his offspring but also to his younger siblings, we find that kin ties never emerge as an equilibrium outcome in a promiscuous environment. In a fidelity family environment, instead, kinship can occur in equilibrium and, when it does, it is efficiency enhancing in terms of greater survivorship and fitness. The model can also be used to shed light on the issue as to why virtually all major world religions are centered around the importance of the family.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 4637.

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Length: 39 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2009
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4637
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Keywords: fatherhood uncertainty; free riding; kinship systems; religion; overlapping generations; divorce and blended families;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
  • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
  • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
  • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
  • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. Why monogamy?
    by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-11-01 16:00:00
  2. Why families?
    by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2010-02-02 15:39:00
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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Cited by:

  1. David De La Croix & Fabio Mariani, 2015. "From Polygyny to Serial Monogamy: A Unified Theory of Marriage Institutions," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 82(2), pages 565-607.
  2. Brishti Guha, 2012. "Gambling on Genes: Ambiguity Aversion Explains Investment in Sisters’ Children," Working Papers 33-2012, Singapore Management University, School of Economics.
  3. Tomoki Fujii, 2012. "Dynamic Poverty Decomposition Analysis: An Application to the Philippines," Working Papers 34-2012, Singapore Management University, School of Economics.
  4. Dirk Bethmann, 2011. "Marriage Regimes," FEMM Working Papers 110029, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
  5. Brishti Guha, 2012. "Grandparents as Guards: A Game Theoretic Analysis of Inheritance and Post Marital Residence in a World of Uncertain Paternity," Working Papers 37-2012, Singapore Management University, School of Economics.

This item is featured on the following reading lists or Wikipedia pages:

  1. Economic Logic blog

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