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Why is monogamy associated with economic development?
Eric Gould, Omer Moav and Avi Simhon offer a new answer in the March 2008 American Economic Review: female inequality. Economic growth means that some women have higher human capital than others and thus they are better suited at producing and rearing high quality children. Wealthy men with lots of human capital will start to bid for these women and they will have to offer them exclusive status; these men also wish to invest in a smaller number of higher quality children.
In other words, male inequality encourages polygamy while female inequality discourages it. Apparently female inequality has been winning that race.
The hypothesis also helps explain why polygamy unravels so decisively at some point. Since monogamy itself encourages children (including daughters) with higher human capital, initial tendencies toward monogamy are self-reinforcing.
Here is an earlier ungated version of the paper. Or buy the new version here for $7.50. Here are previous MR posts on polygamy.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on April 8, 2008 at 12:56 PM in History | Permalink
Comments
Where d'you get them high quality children? If I'd have known I wouldn't have invested in my pair of low quality children.
Posted by: tom s. at Apr 8, 2008 1:25:55 PM
We tend to raise our children more or less as we were raised so that should level quality out but IQ tends to mean reversion...all four of mine are of the highest quality in my eyes but I haven't a clue how much human capital they have.
Posted by: Ward at Apr 8, 2008 1:35:46 PM
My child seems high quality; bad time to mention my lack of monogamy?
Posted by: Nate at Apr 8, 2008 1:45:13 PM
"a smaller number of higher quality children"
One Big Yuppie Baby?
Posted by: tom s. at Apr 8, 2008 2:11:29 PM
Women with lower human capital (men also) wants to have high quality fewer children in developing societies under the impact of globalisation.Monogamy is advocated by religion also.From an earlier post in MR given as archive, I am surprised to see that there still exists polygyny in the developed atmosphere of the US and boys are forcefully sent away from their homes.
Posted by: Gdy at Apr 8, 2008 5:51:37 PM
Women with lower human capital (men also) wants to have high quality fewer children in developing societies under the impact of globalisation.Monogamy is advocated by religion also.From an earlier post in MR given as archive, I am surprised to see that there still exists polygyny in the developed atmosphere of the US and boys are forcefully sent away from their homes.
Posted by: Gdy at Apr 8, 2008 5:52:42 PM
How come this is a "new answer"? Ask any social anthropologist, and you will be informed about the socio-economic benefits of female empowerment during peacetime.
Posted by: indregard at Apr 9, 2008 3:08:32 AM
funny, how 1000 years ago, when polygamous middle east was lightyears ahead of monogamous west, economists had probably been publishing papers on self-enforcing forces of polygamy and economic development...
Posted by: mishka at Apr 9, 2008 6:20:15 AM
Also, less competition among men for women meant men could cooperate together better because reproducation was less of a zero sum game.
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