Signaling Theory
A body of theoretical work examining communication between individuals, where the central question is when organisms with conflicting interests, such as in sexual selection, should be expected to provide honest signals (no presumption being made of conscious intention) rather than cheating.
Origin
Michael Spence developed the theory in his Harvard doctoral research, publishing "Job Market Signaling" in the Quarterly Journal of Economics in 1973. Drawing on George Akerlof's 1970 "Market for Lemons" paper on information asymmetry, Spence showed that costly, observable actions — such as acquiring educational credentials — can credibly signal unobservable qualities precisely because low-quality senders cannot afford to mimic them. Spence, Akerlof, and Joseph Stiglitz shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for this work.