Abstract

Institutions in many domains display common features in very different human groups. Explaining these commonalities requires more than economic rationality and historical path-dependence. Specific capacities and preferences in human minds, as a result of evolution by natural selection, make certain kinds of norms more “natural” than others, that is, more intuitive and compelling. This is illustrated here in two domains, marriage institutions and ownership norms. In both cases, an evolutionary perspective on norms helps explain institutional design. More generally, this perspective also suggests that only a limited catalogue of possible institutional norms can be easily acquired and made legitimate.

Reference

Pascal Boyer (Washington University in St. Louis), “Naturalness of Institutions: On The Evolutionary Psychology Of Some Social and Economic Norms”, IAST General Seminar, Toulouse: IAST, December 18, 2014, 15:30–16:30, room MF323.