Authors present a model of optimal postmarital residence rules based on human capital investments made before marriage. Implications of this model are tested cross-culturally. Environmental, subsistence, economic, and social variables are considered as predictors of postmarital residence patterns.

This study develops a model of the conditions under which a societies switch from a anarchy to a hierarchy. Empirical results suggest that the presence of police, technological sophistication, population density, and food storage are positively associated with the presence of a territorial hierarchy.

This study presents a theory of land inheritance that "focuses on the incentives that land inheritence rules create for potential heirs" and tests this theory on a cross-cultural sample.

This article presents a representative theoretical model of the transition to agriculture. Empirical results from a cross-cultural sample provide support for the model. Results suggest that agriculture is associated with population density, technological sophistication, environment, and proximity to agricultural hearths, such as the Fertile Crescent.

This study examines land ownership and territoriality among hunter-gatherers in relation to resource density and predictability and defense technology. A model is presented and briefly tested on a cross-cultural sample of 14 hunter-gatherer societies. Results suggest that societies in more resource-rich areas will be more territorial than societies in less resource-rich areas.