Abstract
The embodied-capital theory generalizes existing life history theory by treating the processes of growth, development, and maintenance as investments in stocks of somatic or embodied capital. The theory provides a means of understanding relationships between economic behavior, social behavior, and demographic traits such as fertility and survival. The approach sheds light on the long-term evolution of human life histories (including slow development, long life span, and menopause) and social structure (including high levels of parental investment and intergenerational transfers). It also provides an explanation of the demographic transition to low fertility that has accompanied modernization. This article reviews data from traditional small-scale societies and modern nations bearing on the theory, and addresses the changing roles of physiological, psychological, and cultural mechanisms that underlie fertility behavior in traditional and modern contexts.
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