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Comparative Study
. 2004 Jul 22;271(1547):1443-50.
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2004.2746.

Random drift and culture change

R Alexander Bentley  1 , Matthew W Hahn, Stephen J Shennan
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Random drift and culture change

R Alexander Bentley et al. Proc Biol Sci. .

Abstract

We show that the frequency distributions of cultural variants, in three different real-world examples--first names, archaeological pottery and applications for technology patents--follow power laws that can be explained by a simple model of random drift. We conclude that cultural and economic choices often reflect a decision process that is value-neutral; this result has far-reaching testable implications for social-science research.

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