Maladaptation in an unequal world: an evolutionary model with heterogeneous agents

Angelo Antoci, Simone Borghesi (), Giulio Galdi, Mauro Sodini () and Elisa Ticci ()
Additional contact information
Simone Borghesi: European University Institute
Mauro Sodini: University of Naples “Federico II”
Elisa Ticci: University of Siena

Annals of Operations Research, 2024, vol. 337, issue 3, No 15, 1089-1110

Abstract: Abstract Maladaptation is steadily increasing its presence in agenda and debates about climate change and its impacts. The term denotes actions undertaken, at the individual or collective level, to defend against the adverse effects of climate change or environmental degradation, but that ultimately exacerbate the underlying risk factors. In this paper, we investigate the effects of maladaptation in terms of well-being and inequality in a two-population (North–South) evolutionary model. While agents in the South often face higher vulnerability to environmental degradation and limited defense mechanisms compared to their Northern counterparts, the latter stand to endure greater economic losses, in absolute terms. Our model demonstrates that the diffusion of maladaptive choices could result in a Pareto-dominated steady state, influencing inequality levels positively or negatively based on the scale of maladaptation impacts relative to the existing environmental degradation. These findings stress the imperative of integrating environmental risk studies with maladaptive effects and dynamics. Additionally, they advocate for international discourse not only on climate change mitigation but also on adaptive measures among countries.

Keywords: Maladaptation; Inequality; Negative externalities; Economic growth; North–South interactions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C70 D62 O13 O40 Q20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10479-024-05863-3 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:annopr:v:337:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s10479-024-05863-3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/10479

DOI: 10.1007/s10479-024-05863-3

Access Statistics for this article

Annals of Operations Research is currently edited by Endre Boros

More articles in Annals of Operations Research from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().