ABSTRACT
According to Hirshleifer (1977), it is a rather ‘odd accident’ that biological models entered into economic thought in connection with the theory of the business firm. Hirshleifer calls the firm a highly specialized and consciously contrived ‘cultural grouping’. If biological models were being explored afresh for possible relevance to economic behaviour, Hirshleifer argues, the first target for consideration would naturally be the individual together with the family, entities that are of direct biological significance. Whether it is an odd accident or not, we have seen in the previous chapters that Hirshleifer’s point seems to be well taken that a plausible analogue of (especially) genetic inheritance is not easily found at the level of the firm. In contrast, nobody doubts that individual human beings are organisms that pass (part of) their genetic material over to their children.
