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The Marginal Utility of Inequality

A Global Examination across Ethnographic Societies

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Abstract

Despite decades of research, we still lack a clear explanation for the emergence and persistence of inequality. Here we propose and evaluate a marginal utility of inequality hypothesis that nominates circumscription and environmental heterogeneity as independent, necessary conditions for the emergence of intragroup material inequality. After coupling the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS) with newly generated data from remote sensing, we test predictions derived from this hypothesis using a multivariate generalized additive model that accounts for spatial and historical dependence as well as subsistence mode. Our analyses show that the probability a society will be stratified increases significantly as a function of proxies of environmental heterogeneity and environmental circumscription. This supports the hypothesis that increasing environmental heterogeneity and circumscription drives the emergence and persistence of inequality among documented societies across the globe. We demonstrate how environmental heterogeneity and circumscription produce situations that limit individuals’ options so that some may find it in their best interest to give up some autonomy for material gain, while others may find it in their best interest to give up some material resources for another individual’s time or deference. These results support the marginal utility of inequality framework and enable future explorations of the ecological conditions that facilitate the emergence of intragroup inequality through time and across the globe.

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Data Availability

• Standard Cross-Cultural Sample data accessible online for download from its hosted location at D-PLACE (Database of Places, Language, Culture and Environment) https://d-place.org/

• Net Primary Productivity original raster available online from the University of Montana Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group: “MOD17 Photosynthesis (PSN) and Net Primary Productivity (NPP) algorithm.” http://www.ntsg.umt.edu/project/modis/mod17.php

• Net Primary Productivity values used in the analysis here are located in the associated spreadsheet (ESM4) included as a supplemental document for publication

• Standard Cross-Cultural Sample data used in this analysis (Table 1) are presented in ESM4

• ESM2 provides the R code for complete replicability of the data, with instructions for downloading and recalculating all data used and generated for these analyses

• ESM3 provides the R code for complete replicability of the analyses, with instructions for running and interpreting all analyses included in the text and supplement.

All data used for this research are freely available online at the locations listed above or are intended to be published with this research as a supplemental document available to any person accessing the article.

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Acknowledgments

We thank three anonymous reviewers as well as members of the University of Utah Archaeological Center and Department of Anthropology for their comments and feedback, which have greatly strengthened this research. Kristen Hawkes was instrumental in thinking through this problem. Kenneth B. Vernon and Kasey E. Cole contributed many insightful questions which served to improve this work. Funding for this research was provided by the Global Change and Sustainability Center, the Vice President for Research Office, and the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Utah.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, 260 S. Central Campus Drive, Room 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Kurt M. Wilson & Brian F. Codding

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Wilson, K.M., Codding, B.F. The Marginal Utility of Inequality. Hum Nat 31, 361–386 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-020-09383-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-020-09383-4

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