This essay explores evolutionary and competence-based theories of the firm. " Evolutionary " approaches to the theory of the firm often invoke the biological metaphor of natural selection[1]. The classic example here is the seminal work by Richard Nelson and Sidney Winter: An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1982). Exponents of evolutionary approaches argue that they provide better theor...

Late life is a distinct phase of life characterized by a cessation in the deterioration of survivorship and fecundity characteristic of normal aging. Several theories have been proposed to explain non-aging at late ages, specifically with regards to late-life mortality-rate plateaus. All such theories must be compatible with formal evolutionary theory and experimental findings. Here, we develop...

Evolutionary psychology holds great promise as one of the possible pillars on which information systems theorizing can take place. Arguably, evolutionary psychology can provide the key to many counterintuitive predictions of behavior toward technology, because many of the evolved instincts that influence our behavior are below our level of conscious awareness; often those instincts lead to beha...

Traditionally, economics has regarded institutions, notably norms and regulations, as fixed or exogenous. Surprisingly few insights on institutional evolution from natural and social sciences have made their way into economics. This article gives an overview of evolutionary theories of institutions in biology, sociology, anthropology and economics. These theories are subsequently compared with ...

Evolutionary psychology accounts of gender differences in sexual behaviors in general and men's sexual aggression, in particular, has been criticized for legitimizing males' sexual misconduct. To empirically assess such critiques, two studies examined how men's judgments of male sex crimes (solicitation of sex from a prostitute; rape) are influenced by exposure to (a) evolutionary psychological...

Most theories of crime have not explored intensively biological and especially evolutionary explanations for criminal behavior. Ellis presents a valuable new perspective that proposes that physiological mechanisms shaped by evolutionary forces can provide insights into the causes of crime and sex differences in the patterns of crime. We discuss other theories and research relevant to Ellis’s th...

Evolutionary psychology provides a cogent metatheory for psychological science. It has furnished compelling theories of major domains of human functioning, including mating, parenting, kinship, morality, cooperation, conflict, aggression, and aesthetics. It has produced hundreds of empirical discoveries missed entirely by prior psychologists. Developmental dynamics, properly conceived, can add ...

We articulate an evolutionary perspective on cultural variation, centering on the concept of evoked culture. We then demonstrate how the framework of evoked culture has been used to predict and explain cultural variation and report new tests of hypotheses about cultural variation in mate preferences. These tests demonstrate the predictive power of ecological variables such as parasite prevalenc...

We critically review evolutionary theories of major depressive disorder (MDD). Because most instances of MDD appear to be caused by adversity, evolutionary theories of MDD generally propose that sadness and low mood evolved as beneficial responses to adversity, and that MDD is dysfunctional sadness and low mood. If so, MDD research should focus much more heavily on understanding the healthy fun...