Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/98878 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. 14-013/I
Publisher: 
Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam and Rotterdam
Abstract: 
A widespread claim in evolutionary theory is that every group se- lection model can be recast in terms of inclusive fitness. Although there are interesting classes of group selection models for which this is possible, we show that it is not true in general. With a simple set of group selection models, we show two distinct limitations that prevent recasting in terms of inclusive fitness. The first is a limitation across models. We show that if inclusive fitness is to always give the correct prediction, the definition of relatedness needs to change, continuously, along with changes in the parameters of the model. This results in infinitely many different definitions of relatedness - one for every parameter value - which strips relatedness of its meaning. The second limitation is across time. We show that one can find the trajectory for the group selection model by solv ing a partial differential equation, and that it is mathematically impossible to do this using inclusive fitness.
Subjects: 
Group selection
inclusive fitness
kin selection
equivalence
social evolution
JEL: 
C73
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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