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Vertical transmission of culture and the distribution of family names

Damian H. Zanette, Susanna C. Manrubia

nlin.AOarXiv:nlin/0009046

Abstract

A stochastic model for the evolution of a growing population is proposed, in order to explain empirical power-law distributions in the frequency of family names as a function of the family size. Preliminary results show that the predicted exponents are in good agreement with real data. The evolution of family-name distributions is discussed in the frame of vertical transmission of cultural features.

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