For centuries indigenous peoples have been identified with subsistence economies, meaning that productive activities were mainly intended to satisfy local needs. Even when other pursuits such as production for the market, trading and migrant wage or contract labor was present, hunting, gathering and cultivation for subsistence would ensure the survival of local territorial units, be they famili...

We extend the Brander-Taylor model of population and resource development in an isolated society by adding a resource subsistence requirement to people’s preferences. This improves plausibility; amplifies population overshoot and collapse, and makes the steady state less stable; and allows for complete cessation of non-harvesting activities, in line with archaeological evidence for many societi...

BACKGROUND There is concern of avian influenza virus (AIV) infections in humans. Subsistence hunters may be a potential risk group for AIV infections as they frequently come into close contact with wild birds and the aquatic habitats of birds while harvesting. This study aimed to examine if knowledge and risk perception of avian influenza influenced the use of protective measures and attitudes ...

Traditionally, the possibility of Giffen behavior has been motivated by an argument similar to Marshall’s. We will argue that the need to maintain subsistence consumption is the critical factor leading to Giffen behavior, drawing connections between Marshall’s verbal argument, two mathematical models of the situation, and the graphical analysis found in microeconomics textbooks. Although much o...

We present a cross-cultural analysis showing that the presence of an active or moral High God in societies varies generally along a continuum from lesser to greater technological complexity and subsistence productivity. Foragers are least likely to have High Gods. Horticulturalists and agriculturalists are more likely. Pastoralists are most likely, though they are less easily positioned along t...