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Siblings, strangers, and the surge of altruism

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  • Stark, Oded

Abstract

We demonstrate how altruism can surge in a population of nonaltruists. We assume that each individual plays a one-shot prisoner's dilemma game with his or her sibling, or with a stranger, and that the probability that an individual survives to reproduce is proportional to his or her payoff in this game. We model the formation of couples and the rule of imitation of parents and of nonparents. We then ask what happens to the proportion of altruists in the population. We specify a case where the unique and stable equilibrium is one in which the entire population will consist of altruists.
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Suggested Citation

  • Stark, Oded, 1999. "Siblings, strangers, and the surge of altruism," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 135-142, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:65:y:1999:i:2:p:135-142
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    1. Bergstrom, Theodore C & Stark, Oded, 1993. "How Altruism Can Prevail in an Evolutionary Environment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(2), pages 149-155, May.
    2. Bester, Helmut & Guth, Werner, 1998. "Is altruism evolutionarily stable?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 193-209, February.
    3. Stark,Oded, 1999. "Altruism and Beyond," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521663731.
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    Cited by:

    1. Oded Stark & Anna Nicinska, 2015. "How Inheriting Affects Bequest Plans," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82, pages 1126-1152, December.
    2. Oded Stark & Doris Behrens & Yong Wang, 2009. "On the evolutionary edge of migration as an assortative mating device," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 95-109, February.
    3. Savvateev, Alexei & Stark, Oded, 2005. "An evolutionary explanation for the propensity to migrate," EconStor Preprints 279746, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    4. Tóbiás, Áron, 2023. "Rational Altruism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 50-80.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers

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