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On the Origin of the Family

Working paper
Author/s: 
Marco Francesconi, Christian Ghiglino and Motty Perry
Issue number: 
1028
Publisher: 
University of Warwick
Year: 
2013
PDF [1]
We present a game theoretic model to explain why people form life long monogamous fam- ilies. Three components are essential in our framework, paternal investment, fatherhood uncertainty, and, perhaps the most distinctive feature of all, the overlap of children of dif- ferent ages. When all three conditions are present, monogamy is the most e cient form of sexual organization in the sense that it yields greater survivorship than serial monogamy, group marriage, and polygyny. Monogamy is also the only con guration that fosters al- truistic ties among siblings. Finally, our result sheds light to the understanding of why most religions center around the monogamous delity family.
Tags: 
Network Formation [2]

Source URL:http://www.coalitiontheory.net/content/origin-family

Links
[1] http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/workingpapers/2013/twerp_1028_perry.pdf [2] http://www.coalitiontheory.net/research-areas/network-formation