Reflections on the implications of evolutionary psychology for the theory of institutions

Jonathan Eastwood

Journal of Institutional Economics, 2012, vol. 8, issue 4, 537-550

Abstract: In this paper I consider the implications of work in evolutionary psychology for institutional analysis. I respond to Pascal Boyer and Michael Bang Petersen (‘The Naturalness of (Many) Social Institutions: Evolved Cognition as their Foundation’; 2012), who put forward a programmatic statement in this connection. I argue that their discussion overstates the explanatory power of evolutionary psychology and does not take sufficient account of what we already know about institutions. At the same time, I suggest that they, and the empirical work upon which they draw, make an important contribution by helping us to establish more clearly the boundary conditions of institutional analysis. I call for ongoing cooperation and for the establishment of a unified research tradition that brings together both evolutionary psychology and institutionalism.

Date: 2012
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