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Cooperation and community structure in social networks

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  • Luthi, Leslie
  • Pestelacci, Enea
  • Tomassini, Marco

Abstract

Situations of conflict giving rise to social dilemmas are widespread in society. One way of studying these important phenomena is by using simplified models of individual behavior under conflicting situations such as evolutionary game theory. Starting from the observation that individuals interact through networks of acquaintances, we study the evolution of cooperation on model and real social networks through well known paradigmatic games. Using a new payoff scheme which leaves replicator dynamics invariant, we find that cooperation is sustainable in such networks, even in the difficult case of the prisoner’s dilemma. The evolution and stability of cooperation implies the condensation of game strategies into the existing community structures of the social network in which clusters of cooperators survive thanks to their higher connectivity towards other fellow cooperators.

Suggested Citation

  • Luthi, Leslie & Pestelacci, Enea & Tomassini, Marco, 2008. "Cooperation and community structure in social networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(4), pages 955-966.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:387:y:2008:i:4:p:955-966
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2007.09.046
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Li, Yixiao & Wang, Yi & Sheng, Jichuan, 2017. "The evolution of cooperation on geographical networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 485(C), pages 1-10.
    2. Haydée Lugo & Maxi San Miguel, 2014. "Learning and coordinating in a multilayer network," Documentos de Trabajo del ICAE 2014-30, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico.
    3. Chunyan Zhang & Jianlei Zhang & Guangming Xie & Long Wang & Matjaž Perc, 2011. "Evolution of Interactions and Cooperation in the Spatial Prisoner's Dilemma Game," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(10), pages 1-7, October.
    4. Tsukamoto, Ei & Shirayama, Susumu, 2010. "Influence of the variance of degree distributions on the evolution of cooperation in complex networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 389(3), pages 577-586.
    5. Rezaei, Golriz & Kirley, Michael, 2012. "Dynamic social networks facilitate cooperation in the N-player Prisoner’s Dilemma," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 391(23), pages 6199-6211.
    6. Salehi, Mostafa & Rabiee, Hamid R. & Jalili, Mahdi, 2010. "Motif structure and cooperation in real-world complex networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 389(23), pages 5521-5529.
    7. Alberto Antonioni & Maria Paula Cacault & Rafael Lalive & Marco Tomassini, 2013. "Coordination on Networks: Does Topology Matter?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(2), pages 1-11, February.

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