Residential College | false |
Status | 即將出版Forthcoming |
Human brain evolution in a Malthusian economy | |
Chu, Angus C. | |
2024-11 | |
Source Publication | Macroeconomic Dynamics |
ABS Journal Level | 2 |
ISSN | 1365-1005 |
Abstract | Why did the human brain evolve? This study develops a Malthusian growth model with heterogeneous agents and natural selection to explore the evolution of human brain size. We find that if the cognitive advantage of a larger brain dominates its higher metabolic costs, then the average brain size increases over time, which is consistent with the rising trend in human brain size that started over 2 million years ago. Furthermore, an improvement in hunting-gathering productivity (e.g., the discovery of using stone tools and fire in hunting animals and cooking food) helps to trigger this human brain size evolution. As the average brain size increases, the average level of hunting-gathering productivity also rises over time. Quantitatively, our model is able to replicate the trend in hominin brain evolution over the last 10 million years. |
Keyword | Natural Selection Brain Size Evolution Malthusian Growth Theory |
DOI | 10.1017/S1365100524000646 |
URL | View the original |
Indexed By | SSCI |
Language | 英語English |
WOS Research Area | Business & Economics |
WOS Subject | Economics |
WOS ID | WOS:001362266300001 |
Publisher | CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS, EDINBURGH BLDG, SHAFTESBURY RD, CB2 8RU CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND |
Scopus ID | 2-s2.0-85210372965 |
Fulltext Access | |
Citation statistics | |
Document Type | Journal article |
Collection | Faculty of Social Sciences DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS |
Corresponding Author | Chu, Angus C. |
Affiliation | Department of Economics, University of Macau, Macau, China |
First Author Affilication | University of Macau |
Corresponding Author Affilication | University of Macau |
Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | Chu, Angus C.. Human brain evolution in a Malthusian economy[J]. Macroeconomic Dynamics, 2024. |
APA | Chu, Angus C..(2024). Human brain evolution in a Malthusian economy. Macroeconomic Dynamics. |
MLA | Chu, Angus C.."Human brain evolution in a Malthusian economy".Macroeconomic Dynamics (2024). |
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