Economic Theory Commons^™

Who Helps Tsimane Children And Adults?, Eric Schniter, Daniel K. Cummings, Paul L. Hooper, Maguin Gutierrez Cayuba, Jonathan Stieglitz, Benjamin C. Trumble, Hillard S. Kaplan, Michael D. Gurven

ESI Working Papers

We consider several forms of helping behavior among Tsimane Amerindians of Bolivia, including provision of shelter, childcare, food, sickcare, loans, advice, and cultural influence. While kin selection theory is traditionally invoked to explain nepotistic nurturing of youngsters by closely related kin, much less attention has been given to understanding the help provided to children and adults by individuals without close genetic relatedness. To explain who provides the various forms of help that we consider, we evaluate support for several predictions derived from kin selection theory: that helpers are most often closely related and from an older generation, provide more help …