Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP5859
Authors: Gianni De Fraja
Abstract: This paper proposes an explanation for the universal human desire for increasing consumption. It holds that it was moulded in evolutionary times by a mechanism known to biologists as sexual selection, whereby a certain trait - observable consumption - is used by members of one sex to signal their unobservable characteristics valuable to members of the opposite sex. It then goes on to show that the standard economics problem of utility maximisation is formally equivalent to the standard biology problem of the maximisation of individual fitness, the ability to pass genes to future generations.
Keywords: Darwin; Natural Selection; Sexual Selection; Utility
JEL Codes: D63; I28
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| observable consumption (D12) | mate choice (C78) |
| consumption (E21) | reproductive success (J13) |
| utility maximization (D11) | individual fitness (I12) |
| conspicuous consumption (E21) | mating success (C52) |
| higher consumption (D12) | mating opportunities (J12) |
| costly signaling (D82) | reproductive success (J13) |