The institutional approach for modeling the evolution of human societies
Conference Proceeding
Powers, S. (2016)
The institutional approach for modeling the evolution of human societies. In Proceedings of the Artificial Life Conference 2016https://doi.org/10.7551/978-0-262-33936-0-ch011
Artificial Life is concerned with understanding the dynamics of human societies. A defining feature of any human society is its institutions. However, defining exactly what an...
The co-evolution of social institutions, demography, and large-scale human cooperation
Journal Article
Powers, S. T., & Lehmann, L. (2013)
The co-evolution of social institutions, demography, and large-scale human cooperation. Ecology Letters, 16(11), 1356-1364. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12178
Human cooperation is typically coordinated by institutions, which determine the outcome structure of the social interactions individuals engage in. Explaining the Neolithic tr...
Punishment can promote defection in group-structured populations
Journal Article
Powers, S. T., Taylor, D. J., & Bryson, J. J. (2012)
Punishment can promote defection in group-structured populations. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 311, 107-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2012.07.010
Pro-social punishment, whereby cooperators punish defectors, is often suggested as a mechanism that maintains cooperation in large human groups. Importantly, models that suppo...