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Studies in mathematical biosociology of imitative behavior: I. Effects of income distribution

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Abstract

In connection with previous studies (Rashevsky,Mathematical Biology of Social Behavior, chap. xii), a situation is investigated in which the two mutually exclusive possible behaviors of a society consist of the desire to keep the present socioeconomical situation and the desire to change it inany way. The psychophysiological tendency ϕ towards either of the behaviors is considered to be proportional to the difference between the actual incomei of the individual and his needsi′. Assuming that the distribution functionN 1(i′) of the needs is a given characteristic of the population, it is shown that the distribution functionN(ϕ) of ϕ in the society can be derived fromN 1(i′) and from the distributionN 2(i) of the incomesi. A particular case is worked out as an example. Conditions of stability of a socioeconomic structure are studied in their dependence on the income distribution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Chicago, Committee on Mathematical Biology, Chicago, USA

    N. Rashevsky

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  1. N. Rashevsky
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Rashevsky, N. Studies in mathematical biosociology of imitative behavior: I. Effects of income distribution. Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 18, 323–336 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02481878

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02481878

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