The fetters of the sib: Weber meets Darwin

Arbeitspapier

We analyze the effects of family ties on the incentives for productive effort. A family is modelled as a pair of altruistic siblings. Each sibling exerts effort to produce output under uncertainty and siblings may transfer output to each other. We show that altruism has a non-monotonic effect on effort. We study how this effect depends on climate, the magnitude and volatility of returns to effort. We also analyze the evolutionary robustness of family ties and how this robustness depends on climate. We find that family ties will be stronger in milder climates than in harsher climates.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance ; No. 682

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact ; Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
• Subject: altruism ; family ties ; moral hazard ; evolutionary robustness ; Familienökonomik ; Soziales Verhalten ; Altruismus ; Moral Hazard ; Leistungsanreiz ; Leistungsmotivation ; Theorie

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Alger, Ingela ; Weibull, Jörgen W.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Stockholm School of Economics, The Economic Research Institute (EFI)
• (where): Stockholm
• (when): 2007

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/56172
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET