Citation

Allen RC. Behav. Brain Sci. 2019; 42: e191.

Affiliation

Faculty of Social Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. bob.allen@nyu.eduhttps://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/academics/divisions/social-science/faculty/robert-allen.html.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Cambridge University Press)

DOI

10.1017/S0140525X19000189

PMID

31744560

Abstract

Invention is an investment in which the costs of the Research and Development (R&D) project balance future returns. Those returns depend on objective factors like wage and capital costs but also on subjective factors because they are future projections. The more optimistic the inventor, the higher are the projected returns. Baumard uses Life History Theory (LHT) to relate optimism to the affluence of inventors and their societies.

Language: en