Bobbi S. Low

Intergenerational Wealth Transmission and the Dynamics of Inequality in Small-Scale Societies

Origins of Egalitarianism Wealthy contemporary societies exhibit varying extents of economic inequality, with the Nordic countries being relatively egalitarian, whereas there is a much larger gap between top and bottom in the United States. Borgerhoff Mulder et al. (p. 682; see the Perspective by Acemoglu and Robinson) build a bare-bones model describing the intergenerational transmission of three different types of wealth—based on social networks, land and livestock, and physical and cognitive capacity—in four types of small-scale societies in which livelihoods depended primarily on hunting, herding, farming, or horticulture. Parameter estimates from a large-scale analysis of historical and ethnographic data were added to the model to reveal that the four types of societies display distinctive patterns of wealth transmission and that these patterns are associated with different extents of inequality. Some types of wealth are strongly inherited and, hence, contribute to long-term economic inequality. Small-scale human societies range from foraging bands with a strong egalitarian ethos to more economically stratified agrarian and pastoral societies. We explain this variation in inequality using a dynamic model in which a population’s long-run steady-state level of inequality depends on the extent to which its most important forms of wealth are transmitted within families across generations. We estimate the degree of intergenerational transmission of three different types of wealth (material, embodied, and relational), as well as the extent of wealth inequality in 21 historical and contemporary populations. We show that intergenerational transmission of wealth and wealth inequality are substantial among pastoral and small-scale agricultural societies (on a par with or even exceeding the most unequal modern industrial economies) but are limited among horticultural and foraging peoples (equivalent to the most egalitarian of modern industrial populations). Differences in the technology by which a people derive their livelihood and in the institutions and norms making up the economic system jointly contribute to this pattern.

The role of future unpredictability in human risk-taking

Models of risk-taking as used in the social sciences may be improved by including concepts from life history theory, particularly environmental unpredictability and life expectancy. Community college students completed self-report questionnaires measuring these constructs along with several well-known correlates. The frequency of risk-taking was higher for those with higher future unpredictability beliefs and shorter lifespan estimates (as measured by the Future Lifespan Assessment developed for this study), and unpredictability beliefs remained significant after accounting for standard predictors, such as sex and temperament. The results demonstrate the usefulness of applying concepts from life history theory to enhance our understanding of human behavior.

Rethinking Polygyny: Co-Wives, Codes, and Cultural Systems [and Comments and Reply]

A new set of codes is offered to begin to unpack the dimensions of polygyny. Included are measures of frequency and statistical distributions of multiple wives, cultural rules, residential arrangements and kin relations among co-wives, male stratification, and marriage of captured women. Problems of coding and measurement are extensively illustrated. A series of hypotheses is supported regarding two types of polygyny: wealth-increasing and sororal. In the first, womens labor generates wealth and (if warfare allows) female captives are taken as secondary wives. Here polygyny stratifies males by wealth and most men are able to become polygynists with age. Residential autonomy of wives is an elaboration of this pattem. The second is marked by coresidence of husband and wives and dependence of the family mostly on resources generated by the husband. Here polygyny is usually dependent on the exceptional productivity of particular men such as hunters or shamans. The regional-historical adaptations of these types differ markedly. Neither fits the model of resource-defense polygyny found in other species. Explanations of polygyny, particularly of the first ype, require close attention to resource and demographic flows within regional ecologies. The second type requires further functional and historical analysis. Both require more consideration of the way polygyny operates from the female point of view, a task only partially begun here.

Cross-cultural patterns in the training of children: An evolutionary perspective.

Analyzed cross-cultural child inculcation data from Barry, Josephson, Lauer, & Marshall (1976) by testing a hypothesis derived from natural selection theory: The ways in which boys are trained (vs. those for girls) should correlate with male and female reproductive strategies prevalent in each society. Boys are trained to be more aggressive, show more fortitude, and be more self-reliant than girls; girls are trained to be more industrious, responsible, obedient, and sexually restrained than boys. The more polygynous the society (the higher the potential reproductive rewards for males), the more sons in nonstratified societies were taught to strive. Stratified societies, which restrict mens reproductive striving, showed very different patterns. The more actual control women in any society had over resources, the less daughters were taught to be obedient.

Reproductive life in nineteenth century Sweden: An evolutionary perspective on demographic phenomena

This study between 1824-96 of individual and family fertility mortality and male/female differences in lifetime reproductive patterns is examined for 191 male founders married between 1824-40 in 7 Swedish parishes and 4035 males offspring and 3867 female offspring based on 9 behavioral ecology and human resource use hypotheses. The article is constructed with sections devoted to resources and reproduction in 19th century Sweden 9 predictions from the behavioral ecological hypothesis sample and methods and results of interparish variation resources and mens reproduction resources and migration reproductive value and womens patterns womens versus mens reproductive patterns sex ratio and mothers age offspring and interbirth interval parity and mothers age and interbirth interval number and sex of siblings and replacement of lost infants. Individual data collected included birth date legitimacy status parity fathers best occupation number of marriages age at 1st and subsequent marriages spouses identification spouses best occupation number of children born dates of childrens births and deaths date of death or loss of record and type of record loss. Nuptiality and survivorship and mortality rates of the children of a parent to age 10 (S10) and children alive at 10 (RS10) were calculated. Fertility measure included age specific fertility total fertility rate (TFR) net reproduction rate (NRR) actual lifetime fertility (NBC). NBC and RS10 were calculated for all individuals reaching the age of 15 with full records available. Survivorships was analyzed between the sexes and by marital status and occupation. Class distinctions were made for upper middle class lower middle class bonder torpare and proletariat. MIDAS and BMDP statistical packages were used in the analysis. Analysis of variance was used only where date were continuous and normally distributed. The conclusions are that resource and reproductive value are linked to mens and womens reproductive patterns. Womens reproduction does not vary with resources but mens does. Out migration increased and fertility declined due to resource restrictions. The patterns appear to be well tuned responses to environmental conditions that vary across time and societies and result in new predictions as well as being predictable based on demographic or economic theory. Patterns are also consistent with a cost benefit approach. Evolutionary predictions are also possible: continued exploration with an evolutionary perspective is useful.

Institutions, ecosystems, and sustainability

Introduction A Framework for Exploring the Linkages Between Ecosystems and Human Systems - Cleveland et al Dynamic Systems Modeling - Costanza and Ruth Models Human-Ecosystem Interactions: A Simple Dynamic Integrated Model - Low et al Scale Misperceptions and the Spatial Dynamics of Socio-Ecological Systems with Examples in Fisheries - Wilson et al Investing in Irrigation Infrastructure - Ostrom et al Integrated Ecological Economic Modeling of the Patuxent River Watershed in Maryland - Costanza et al Models for Scoping and Consensus Building - Costanza and Ruth Modeling Summary/Conclusions - Low et al Empirical Studies Empirical Studies of Fisheries - Wilson et al CIPEC Forest Comparisons - Ostrom et al Irrigation Institutions in the Diverse Ecosystems of Nepal - Ostrom et al Empirical Studies at the National Level - Turner Empirical Summary/Conclusions Conclusions Conclusions and Remaining Questions Glossary

Ecological economics and sustainable governance of the oceans

Abstract This paper is an introduction and synthesis of the papers that appear in this special issue devoted to the sustainable governance of the oceans. The special issue contains papers on various aspects of the problem, including: the ecological and economic importance of the oceans, the problems facing the oceans from an ecological economics perspective, the links between science and policy, the rationale for sustainable ocean governance, and examples of sustainable institutions and governance structures. We developed the ‘Lisbon principles’ of sustainable governance (responsibility, scale-matching, precaution, adaptive management, full cost allocation, and participation) as a core set of guidelines for sustainable ocean governance. We then describe the major problems facing the oceans in terms of how the principles are violated, and evaluate some suggested institutions in terms of how the principles are incorporated.

Scale misperceptions and the spatial dynamics of a social-ecological system

The interactions between an ecosystem and thehuman rules for the use of that system can be verycomplex. This complexity means that it is hard todesign foolproof and sensible rules. Here we ex-plore a particular set of difficult questions: Whatare the consequences of misunderstanding or mis-perceiving the spatial structure of populations wewish to exploit? What if the ‘scale’ of naturalpopulations and their interactions do not matchthe scale of our decisions? For example, what ifwe think we are managing a single large popula-tion, when in fact there are multiple, small, spa-tially discrete populations?These are important and relevant questions. Inthe 1950s and 1960s many environmental pro-grams were initiated at the national or interna-tional level. As a consequence, both the theoryand practice of environmental and resource man-agement have focused on a scale of authorityappropriate to national and international regula-tory bodies. In fisheries, for example, the firstserious attempts at management began with theinternational organizations for the northwest andnortheast Atlantic and the whale and the tunacommissions. With the advent of extendedfisheries jurisdiction (i.e. the 200-mile limit), na-tional organizations took over much of the au-thority of the international bodies, but oftenretained intact the same theory and the same scaleof regulation (generally over large areas involvingthousands of square kilometers). Of necessity, reg-ulatory bodies operating at this scale are forced toignore the fine-scale aspects of the systems theyregulate.The poor performance of regulated oceanfisheries provides ample reason to question thescale of regulatory attention. A number of recentpapers (Sinclair, 1988; Hutchins and Meyers,1995; Ames, 1996; Wroblewski et al., 1996;Wilson et al., 1998) have focused attention on theexistence of populations at a smaller scale thanthat usually managed by national or internationalregulatory authorities. The usual thrust of these

Influences on Women's Reproductive Lives Unexpected Ecological Underpinnings

Modern womens reproductive lives vary considerably, in a patterned fashion. Although cultural factors are important, across societies—even across species— there exist strong patterns predicted by life history theory. For example, the shorter life expectancy e 0 is at birth, the earlier it pays in biological terms to reproduce. Few factors analyzed in womens life patterns in more than 170 nations influence the divergence. Studies on other species assume that (a) the variation is species specific and (b) the conditions are at equilibrium; the relationship between life expectancy and age at first birth is strong, but varies across populations, and is frequently not at equilibrium. Human patterns, like those of other species, may have ecological or life history underpinnings. The answers we find may have policy implications for womens lives and fertility.

Resources and the life course: Patterns through the demographic transition

Abstract In most mammals, and in the majority of traditional human societies for which data exist, status, power, or resource control correlates with lifetime reproductive success; male and female patterns differ. Because such correlations are often argued to have disappeared in human societies during the demographic transition of the nineteenth century, we analyzed wealth and lifetime reproductive success in a nineteenth-century Swedish population in four economically diverse parishes, subsuming geographic and temporal variation. Children of both sexes born to poorer parents were more likely than richer children to die or emigrate before reaching maturity. Poorer men, and women whose fathers were poorer, were less likely to marry in the parish than others, largely as a result of differential mortality and migration. Of all adults of both sexes who remained in their home parish and thus generated complete lifetime records, richer individuals had greater lifetime fertility and more children alive at age ten, than others. The age-specific fertility of richer women rises slightly sooner, and reaches a higher peak, than that of poorer women. These patterns persisted throughout the period of the sample (1824–1896). Thus, wealth appears, even during the demographic transition in an egalitarian society, to have influenced lifetime reproductive success positively.