Random drift and culture change

Bentley, Alex; Hahn, M.W.; Shennan, S.J.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2746

Random drift and culture change

Bentley, Alex; Hahn, M.W.; Shennan, S.J.

Authors

Alex Bentley

M.W. Hahn

S.J. Shennan

Abstract

We show that the frequency distributions of cultural variants, in three different real-world examples--first names, archaeological pottery and applications for technology patents--follow power laws that can be explained by a simple model of random drift. We conclude that cultural and economic choices often reflect a decision process that is value-neutral; this result has far-reaching testable implications for social-science research

Citation

Bentley, A., Hahn, M., & Shennan, S. (2004). Random drift and culture change. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 271(1547), 1443-1450. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2746

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Jul 1, 2004
Deposit Date	Mar 5, 2008
Journal	Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Print ISSN	0962-8452
Electronic ISSN	1471-2954
Publisher	The Royal Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	271
Issue	1547
Pages	1443-1450
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2746
Keywords	Cultural evolution, Random genetic drift, Patents, First names, Pottery, Power laws.
Publisher URL	http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/openurl.asp?genre=article&eissn=1471-2954&volume=271&issue=1547&spage=1443