IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/agr/journl/v3(636)y2023i3(636)p5-20.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The economics and evolution of heroic behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel FARHAT

    (Radford University, USA)

Abstract

This study uses a simulation model to explore the causes of ‘extreme civil heroism’: risking one’s life to help a stranger. The model uses a mixture of traditional economic thinking (based on rational self-interest) and human behavioral ecology (based on natural selection). Simulated agents choose between two competing communities (one with heroism and one without) by maximizing expected utility. Which community thrives is observed. Labor productivity, risk tolerance, perspectives on death, emergency response training and accident probability are analyzed as drivers of heroic community success. A preliminary assessment of the model is conducted using data from Eastern Europe. Avenues for future research are described.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel FARHAT, 2023. "The economics and evolution of heroic behavior," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(3(636), A), pages 5-20, Autumn.
    • Handle: RePEc:agr:journl:v:3(636):y:2023:i:3(636):p:5-20
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://store.ectap.ro/articole/1674.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.ectap.ro/articol.php?id=1674&rid=152
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tesfatsion, Leigh, 2007. "Agents come to bits: Towards a constructive comprehensive taxonomy of economic entities," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 333-346, June.
    2. A. Pyka & G. Fagiolo, 2007. "Agent-based Modelling: A Methodology for Neo-Schumpetarian Economics," Chapters, in: Horst Hanusch & Andreas Pyka (ed.), Elgar Companion to Neo-Schumpeterian Economics, chapter 29, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Stuart A. West & Maxwell N. Burton-Chellew, 2013. "Human behavioral ecology," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 24(5), pages 1043-1045.
    4. Daniel Nettle & Mhairi A. Gibson & David W. Lawson & Rebecca Sear, 2013. "Human behavioral ecology: current research and future prospects," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 24(5), pages 1031-1040.
    5. Martin A. Nowak & Corina E. Tarnita & Edward O. Wilson, 2010. "The evolution of eusociality," Nature, Nature, vol. 466(7310), pages 1057-1062, August.
    6. Tesfatsion, Leigh, 2002. "Agent-Based Computational Economics: Growing Economies from the Bottom Up," ISU General Staff Papers 200201010800001251, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    7. David G Rand & Ziv G Epstein, 2014. "Risking Your Life without a Second Thought: Intuitive Decision-Making and Extreme Altruism," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-6, October.
    8. Epstein, Joshua M., 2006. "Remarks on the Foundations of Agent-Based Generative Social Science," Handbook of Computational Economics, in: Leigh Tesfatsion & Kenneth L. Judd (ed.), Handbook of Computational Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 34, pages 1585-1604, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dan Farhat, 2013. "The Economics of Vampires: An Agent-based Perspective," Working Papers 1301, University of Otago, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2013.
    2. Giorgio Fagiolo & Paul Windrum & Alessio Moneta, 2006. "Empirical Validation of Agent Based Models: A Critical Survey," LEM Papers Series 2006/14, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    3. Andrew G. Haldane & Arthur E. Turrell, 2019. "Drawing on different disciplines: macroeconomic agent-based models," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 39-66, March.
    4. Gualdi, Stanislao & Tarzia, Marco & Zamponi, Francesco & Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe, 2015. "Tipping points in macroeconomic agent-based models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 29-61.
    5. Poursalimi Jaghargh, Mohammad Javad & Mashhadi, Habib Rajabi, 2021. "An analytical approach to estimate structural and behavioral impact of renewable energy power plants on LMP," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1012-1022.
    6. Dan Farhat, 2011. "Bookworms versus Party Animals: An Artificial Labor Market with Human and Social Capital Accumulation," Working Papers 1103, University of Otago, Department of Economics, revised May 2011.
    7. Paul Windrum & Giorgio Fagiolo & Alessio Moneta, 2007. "Empirical Validation of Agent-Based Models: Alternatives and Prospects," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 10(2), pages 1-8.
    8. Gobbi, Alessandro & Grazzini, Jakob, 2019. "A basic New Keynesian DSGE model with dispersed information: An agent-based approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 101-116.
    9. Giorgio Fagiolo & Alessio Moneta & Paul Windrum, 2007. "A Critical Guide to Empirical Validation of Agent-Based Models in Economics: Methodologies, Procedures, and Open Problems," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 195-226, October.
    10. Weidlich Anke & Veit Daniel, 2008. "Agent-Based Simulations for Electricity Market Regulation Advice: Procedures and an Example," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 228(2-3), pages 149-172, April.
    11. Tesfatsion, Leigh, 2006. "Agent-Based Computational Modeling And Macroeconomics," Staff General Research Papers Archive 12402, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    12. Oliver Hinz & Jochen Eckert, 2010. "The Impact of Search and Recommendation Systems on Sales in Electronic Commerce," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 2(2), pages 67-77, April.
    13. Federico Pablo-Martí & Antonio García-Tabuenca & Tomás Mancha, 2013. "AMOEBA: An Agent-based Model Of Entrepreneurship and Business Activities," ERSA conference papers ersa13p717, European Regional Science Association.
    14. Alger, Ingela, 2021. "On the evolution of male competitiveness," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 228-254.
    15. Christian Hilbe & Moshe Hoffman & Martin A. Nowak, 2015. "Cooperate without Looking in a Non-Repeated Game," Games, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-15, September.
    16. Catherine C Eckel & Enrique Fatas & Sara Godoy & Rick K Wilson, 2016. "Group-Level Selection Increases Cooperation in the Public Goods Game," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-13, August.
    17. Shami, Labib & Lazebnik, Teddy, 2022. "Economic aspects of the detection of new strains in a multi-strain epidemiological–mathematical model," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 165(P2).
    18. Som B Ale & Joel S Brown & Amy T Sullivan, 2013. "Evolution of Cooperation: Combining Kin Selection and Reciprocal Altruism into Matrix Games with Social Dilemmas," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(5), pages 1-8, May.
    19. Juan Manuel Larrosa, 2016. "Agentes computacionales y análisis económico," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 18(34), pages 87-113, January-J.
    20. Scott C. Linn & Nicholas S. P. Tay, 2007. "Complexity and the Character of Stock Returns: Empirical Evidence and a Model of Asset Prices Based on Complex Investor Learning," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(7), pages 1165-1180, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:agr:journl:v:3(636):y:2023:i:3(636):p:5-20. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mircea Dinu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/agerrea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.