Bounded Rationality of \u3cem\u3eHomo Classificus\u3c/em\u3e: The Law and Bioeconomics of Social Norms as Classification

In the New Chicago School ( NCS ) law and economics literature that emerged in the 1990s, social norms play an important function in their dual role as constraints on behavior and as signaling devices. Missing in the NCS social norms literature, however, is any treatment of social norms as classification, a concept which is fundamental to a more complete theory of social norms. In this Article, I show that my early 1980s theory of social norms embedded in the ethnically homogeneous middleman groups ( EHMGs ) clearly falls squarely within the NCS tradition. Since the 1980s, I have extended my law and economics analysis of social norms as classification. The concept of social norms-as-classification is further expanded in a law and bioeconomics of EHMGs as adaptive units viewed from a multilevel evolutionary perspective. The expanded theory of social norms links together the disparate social science disciplines of economics, law, sociology, anthropology, political science, evolutionary psychology and beyond to evolutionary biology and bioeconomics. By providing evidence of EHMGs functioning as adaptive units, I provided a very rare and important empirical example in support of group selection theory in the field of evolutionary biology. The expanded theory of social norms has theoretical and policy implications for understanding minority middleman success in various parts of the world, changing identities and formation of new identities, racial discrimination, racial profiling, ethnic cooperation, interethnic conflict, and international terrorism

Bounded Rationality of \u3cem\u3eHomo Classificus\u3c/em\u3e: The Law and Bioeconomics of Social Norms as Classification

In the New Chicago School ( NCS ) law and economics literature that emerged in the 1990s, social norms play an important function in their dual role as constraints on behavior and as signaling devices. Missing in the NCS social norms literature, however, is any treatment of social norms as classification, a concept which is fundamental to a more complete theory of social norms. In this Article, I show that my early 1980s theory of social norms embedded in the ethnically homogeneous middleman groups ( EHMGs ) clearly falls squarely within the NCS tradition. Since the 1980s, I have extended my law and economics analysis of social norms as classification. The concept of social norms-as-classification is further expanded in a law and bioeconomics of EHMGs as adaptive units viewed from a multilevel evolutionary perspective. The expanded theory of social norms links together the disparate social science disciplines of economics, law, sociology, anthropology, political science, evolutionary psychology and beyond to evolutionary biology and bioeconomics. By providing evidence of EHMGs functioning as adaptive units, I provided a very rare and important empirical example in support of group selection theory in the field of evolutionary biology. The expanded theory of social norms has theoretical and policy implications for understanding minority middleman success in various parts of the world, changing identities and formation of new identities, racial discrimination, racial profiling, ethnic cooperation, interethnic conflict, and international terrorism

Structural alterations in functional neurological disorder and related conditions: A software and hardware problem?

Functional neurological (conversion) disorder (FND) is a condition at the interface of neurology and psychiatry. A “software” vs. “hardware” analogy describes abnormal neurobiological mechanisms occurring in the context of intact macroscopic brain structure. While useful for explanatory and treatment models, this framework may require more nuanced considerations in the context of quantitative structural neuroimaging findings in FND. Moreover, high co-occurrence of FND and somatic symptom disorders (SSD) as defined in DSM-IV (somatization disorder, somatoform pain disorder, and undifferentiated somatoform disorder; referred to as SSD for brevity in this article) raises the possibility of a partially overlapping pathophysiology. In this systematic review, we use a transdiagnostic approach to review and appraise the structural neuroimaging literature in FND and SSD. While larger sample size studies are needed for definitive characterization, this article highlights that individuals with FND and SSD may exhibit sensorimotor, prefrontal, striatal-thalamic, paralimbic, and limbic structural alterations. The structural neuroimaging literature is contextualized within the neurobiology of stress-related neuroplasticity, gender differences, psychiatric comorbidities, and the greater spectrum of functional somatic disorders. Future directions that could accelerate the characterization of the pathophysiology of FND and DSM-5 SSD are outlined, including “disease staging” discussions to contextualize subgroups with or without structural changes. Emerging neuroimaging evidence suggests that some individuals with FND and SSD may have a “software” and “hardware” problem, although if structural alterations are present the neural mechanisms of functional disorders remain distinct from lesional neurological conditions. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether structural alterations relate to predisposing vulnerabilities or consequences of the disorder. Keywords: Conversion disorder, Psychogenic, Neuroimaging, MRI, Functional neurological disorder, Somatic symptom disorde

Trust, ethnicity, and identity : beyond the new institutional economics of ethnic trading networks, contract law, and gift-exchange.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.Exchange and the problem of order in the social sciences: an introduction to this book -- An exchange economy with legally binding contract -- Specialization, exchange externalities, and contract law: a graph-theoretic approach -- Hadley v. Baxendale and the expansion of the middleman economy -- A theory of the ethnically homogeneous middleman group: an institutional alternative to contract law -- The economics of symbols, clan names, and religion / Jack L. Carr and Janet T. Landa -- The enigma of the Kula Ring: gift-exchanges and primitive law and order -- Socioeconomic organization of honeybee colonies / Janet T. Landa and Anthony Wallis -- Toward a theory of the emergence, evolution, and functions of exchange institutions in achieving ordered anarchy.Mode of access: Internet