Interdependent Preferences: Biological  versus economic rationality

When entities interact in an economic game setting, it is typically assumed that the entities make strategic choices based only on what they believe they alone will gain from the interaction. In other words, a rational actor cares only about absolute payoffs from a game. Yet, in terms of evolutionary fitness, only relative payoff, or fitness, matters in the struggle for survival. Economics has been slow to incorporate this idea into theories of rationality, though the subfield of evolutionary economics does explore the importance of interdependent preferences on economic decision making. The "relative gains" debate exists likewise in the field of international relations regarding the importance that relative standing has on national strategic decisions. In this research theme I explore how evolutionary biology, microeconomic behavior, and international relations share a fundamental dichotomy between absolute and relative payoff concerns and seek to determine the importance of relative payoffs in each arena. Understanding how decisions are affected by relative concerns may lead to better design of multinational treaties, a deeper understanding of human behavior, and insights into the evolution of cooperative behavior that is ubiquitous in the history of life.