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The wealth→life history→innovation account of the Industrial Revolution is largely inconsistent with empirical time series data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2019

Michael E. W. Varnum Open the ORCID record for Michael E. W. Varnum [Opens in a new window]  and
Igor Grossmann Open the ORCID record for Igor Grossmann [Opens in a new window]
Michael E. W. Varnum
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1104mvarnum@asu.edu
Igor Grossmann
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1. igrossma@uwaterloo.ca
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Abstract

Baumard proposes a model to explain the dramatic rise in innovation that occurred during the Industrial Revolution, whereby rising living standards led to slower life history strategies, which, in turn, fostered innovation. We test his model explicitly using time series data, finding limited support for these proposed linkages. Instead, we find evidence that rising living standards appear to have a time-lagged bidirectional relationship with increasing innovation.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e212
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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References

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