The Mutual Gains from Trade Moderate the Parent-Offspring Conflict
Sergio Da Silva
Abstract
This essay asserts that the mutual gains accruing from the exchange of goods between siblings can moderate the famous parent-offspring conflict, an issue of interest in evolutionary biology. The rationale combines basic concepts of economics and behavioral genetics, and fills in the gaps of standard economic theory by justifying why trade, ultimately a cooperative endeavor, is possible from egoistic utility maximizers.
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