American Economic Review Vol. 84 No. 3 1994
Systematic Errors and the Theory of Natural Selection
Abstract
This paper derives two main results. First, in a world where inheritance is sexual as opposed to asexual "second-best" adaptations can be evolutionarily stable. That is, the adaptation selected need not be the optimal solution to the evolutionary problem at hand. Second, I apply this result to show that natural selection provides a potential explanation for why in many settings humans commit errors that are systematic in nature.
- Volume
- 84
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 482-497
- Sources
- bibtex:phds-export.bib