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Float like a butterfly, $${\varvec{decide}}$$ d e c i d e like a bee

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  • Sven Grüner
  • Anica Fietz
  • Antje Jantsch

Abstract

The decision-making behavior of individuals is limited by a lack of information and a limited capacity to process information. When seeking locations to construct a hive, the honeybee Apis mellifera collectively succeeds at overcoming these individual limitations and, thus, arrives at (nearly) optimal decisions. This article examines the behaviors and coordination mechanisms that have reinforced this trait in the course of evolution. We consider what lessons might be learned concerning human behavior and how better decisions can be made. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Sven Grüner & Anica Fietz & Antje Jantsch, 2015. "Float like a butterfly, $${\varvec{decide}}$$ d e c i d e like a bee," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 243-254, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbioec:v:17:y:2015:i:3:p:243-254
    DOI: 10.1007/s10818-015-9204-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. John B. Taylor, 2009. "Getting Off Track - How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged, and Worsened the Financial Crisis," Books, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, number 3.
    4. Freixas, Josep & Zwicker, William S., 2009. "Anonymous yes-no voting with abstention and multiple levels of approval," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 428-444, November.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Honeybee Apis mellifera ; Bounded rationality ; Collective intelligence/group intelligence; Superorganism ; Apis oeconomicus ; D03; D70;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General

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