This study retests the work by Ember, Ember and Low (2007) on male mortality and pathogen stress as predictors of nonsororal polygyny. The authors argue that the work of Ember, Ember, and Low is biased because it does not include a variable for cultural trait transmission. Restesting the original Ember, Ember and Low data, including a variable for cultural trait transmission, authors find that male mortality and pathogen stress loose their significance and cultural trait transmission is the only significant predictor of nonsororal polygyny.

This article tests a myriad of factors that may have contributed to the adoption of monogamy in preindustrial societies. Results indicate that monogamy is not imposed by elites; rather, it is a strategy often chosen by women who can see no advantage to increasing the size or economic productivity of their households with more wives. The authors also assert that monogamy is generally adopted through cultural diffusion. Low pathogen stress, low risk of famine, and low endemic violence are also correlated with monogamy.

This study uses four widely discussed hypotheses regarding the relationship between agricultural intensification and craft specialization to develop a non-recursive model. Authors test the model on both worldwide and regional subsamples. Results show support for a hypothesis proposing a feedback relationship between increasingly productive agricultural systems and the division of labor into nonagricultural craft specialties.

This study examined the relationship between market integration and generalized prosocial behavior. The authors review theory suggesting that market integration fosters cooperation and fairness in dealing with strangers, and they investigate whether child training for generosity, honesty, and trust are associated with level of market integration among societies in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. Results do not indicate an association.