Slowing life history (K) can account for increasing micro-innovation rates and GDP growth, but not macro-innovation rates, which declined following the end of the Industrial Revolution

Baumard proposes that life history slowing in populations over time is the principal driver of innovation rates. We show that this is only true of micro-innovation rates, which reflect cognitive and economic specialization as an adaptation to high population density, and not macro-innovation rates,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Behavioral and brain sciences Vol. 42; p. e213
Main Authors Woodley of Menie, Michael A., Figueredo, Aurelio José, Sarraf, Matthew A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.01.2019
Subjects
Cognitive ability
Economic growth
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Innovations
Intelligence
Life history
Modernization
Open Peer Commentary
Per capita
Population density
Trends
United Kingdom > UK
United States > US
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Summary:Baumard proposes that life history slowing in populations over time is the principal driver of innovation rates. We show that this is only true of micro-innovation rates, which reflect cognitive and economic specialization as an adaptation to high population density, and not macro-innovation rates, which relate more to a population's level of general intelligence.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-3
content type line 23
ObjectType-Commentary-1
ISSN:0140-525X
1469-1825
DOI:10.1017/S0140525X19000098