Synergy drives the evolutionary dynamics in biology and economics

Abstract

KJ Inclusive Fitness Theory explains the conditions that favor the emergence and maintenance of social cooperation. KJ include direct and indirect benefits an agent obtains by its actions and through interactions with kin and with genetically unrelated individuals. That is, in addition to kin selection, assortation or homophily, and social synergies drive the evolution of cooperation. An Extended Inclusive Fitness Theory (EIFT) synthesizes the natural selection forces acting on biological evolution and on human economic interactions by assuming that natural selection driven by inclusive fitness produces agents with utility functions (υ) that exploit assortation and synergistic opportunities, so that υ= ϕ(ιαε). This means that any utility functions (υ) must include in its calculations the benefits accrued to the agents directly (ι), through interactions with others (α), and through synergies triggered by its behavior (ε). This formulation allows to estimate sustainable cost/benefit threshold ratios of cooperation among organisms and/or economic agents, using existent analytical tools, illuminating our understanding of the dynamic nature of society, the evolution of cooperation among kin and non-kin, inter-specific cooperation, co-evolution, symbioses, division of labor, and social synergies. EIFT helps to promote an interdisciplinary cross-fertilization of the understanding of synergy by, for example, allowing to describe the role for division of labor in the emergence of social synergies, providing an integrated framework for the study of both biological evolution of social behavior and economic market dynamics.