The Biological Bases of Economic Behaviour

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

   PDF

2. The Evolution of Economic Behaviour

   • David McFarland

   Pages 1-25

3. The Economic Behaviour of the Individual

   • David McFarland

   Pages 26-49

4. Behavioural Economics

   • David McFarland

   Pages 50-71

5. The Biological Bases of Decision-Making

   • David McFarland

   Pages 72-89

6. Back Matter

   Pages 90-122

   PDF

Human genetics has changed little over the past 20,000 years, but human economic behaviour has changed a lot. These changes are probably due to human cultural evolution. But studies of human hunter-gatherers, and of a variety of other animal species, show that their micro-economic behaviour is much the same. Whereas the standard economic analysis focuses on money, the biological approach brings time and energy into the analysis. Moreover, humans and other animals tested under laboratory conditions do not exhibit the complexity of the results of field studies. In other words, results obtained in the real world are not the same as those obtained in the laboratory.
 
The Biological Bases of Economic Behaviour invites readers to approach micro-economics from a biological viewpoint, in a clear and introductory manner.

• Animal economics
• anthropology
• economic trade-offs
• economic rationality
• behaviour
• behavioural economics
• decision making
• economic theory
• economics
• microeconomics
• rational choice
• strategy

• Balliol College, University of Oxford, UK

  David McFarland

David McFarland studied zoology (BSc Hons) and psychology (DPhil). He researched and published in the fields of animal behaviour, philosophy, physiology, psychology and robotics. He retired in 2000, and is an Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, UK. Since retiring, he has published seven books.

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