Sexual selection, conspicuous consumption and economic growth

Jason Collins, Boris Baer and Ernst Weber ()

Journal of Bioeconomics, 2015, vol. 17, issue 2, 189-206

Abstract: We propose that the evolution by sexual selection of the male propensity to engage in conspicuous consumption contributed to the emergence of modern rates of economic growth. We develop a model in which males engage in conspicuous consumption to send an honest signal of their quality to females. Females prefer males who express the costly and honest signal, leading males who engage in conspicuous consumption to have higher reproductive success than those who do not, increasing the prevalence of signalling males in the population. As males fund their conspicuous consumption through participation in the labour force, an increase in the prevalence of signalling males gives rise to an increase in economic activity that leads to economic growth. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Keywords: Conspicuous consumption; Sexual selection; Human evolution; Economic growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: Sexual Selection, Conspicuous Consumption and Economic Growth (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jbioec:v:17:y:2015:i:2:p:189-206

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DOI: 10.1007/s10818-015-9200-9

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