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Article
On the Evolution of Altruistic Ethical Rules for Siblings
American Economic Review (1995)
  • Ted Bergstrom, University of California, Santa Barbara
Abstract

This paper explores the evolutionary foundations of altruism among siblings and extends biologists' kin-selection theory to a richer class of games between relatives. It shows that a population will resist invasion by dominant mutant genes if individuals maximize a "semi-Kantian" utility function in games with their siblings. It is shown that a population that resists invasion by dominant mutants may be invaded by recessive mutants. Conditions are found under which a population resists invasion by dominant and also by recessive mutants. (JEL C70, D10, D63)

Keywords
  • altruism,
  • kin selection,
  • Hamilton's rule,
  • coefficient of relatedness,
  • sexual diploids,
  • genetics
Disciplines
Publication Date
March, 1995
Citation Information
Ted Bergstrom. "On the Evolution of Altruistic Ethical Rules for Siblings" American Economic Review Vol. 85 Iss. 1 (1995)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/ted_bergstrom/70/