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Resource heterogeneity can facilitate cooperation

Author

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  • Ádám Kun

    (Evolution and Ecology Program, International Institute for Advanced System Analysis, Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
    Parmenides Center for the Conceptual Foundations of Science, Kirchplatz 1, D-82049 Munich/Pullach, Germany
    Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
    Research Group of Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology, Eötvös University and The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Ulf Dieckmann

    (Evolution and Ecology Program, International Institute for Advanced System Analysis, Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria)

Abstract

Although social structure is known to promote cooperation, by locally exposing selfish agents to their own deeds, studies to date assumed that all agents have access to the same level of resources. This is clearly unrealistic. Here we find that cooperation can be maintained when some agents have access to more resources than others. Cooperation can then emerge even in populations in which the temptation to defect is so strong that players would act fully selfishly if their resources were distributed uniformly. Resource heterogeneity can thus be crucial for the emergence and maintenance of cooperation. We also show that resource heterogeneity can hinder cooperation once the temptation to defect is significantly lowered. In all cases, the level of cooperation can be maximized by managing resource heterogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ádám Kun & Ulf Dieckmann, 2013. "Resource heterogeneity can facilitate cooperation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:4:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms3453
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3453
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Si-Yi & Liu, Yan-Ping & Zhang, Feng & Wang, Rui-Wu, 2021. "Super-rational aspiration induced strategy updating promotes cooperation in the asymmetric prisoner's dilemma game," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 403(C).
    2. Yu, Fengyuan & Wang, Jianwei & He, Jialu, 2022. "Inequal dependence on members stabilizes cooperation in spatial public goods game," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 165(P1).
    3. Han, Jia-Xu & Wang, Rui-Wu, 2023. "Complex interactions promote the frequency of cooperation in snowdrift game," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 609(C).
    4. Liang, Rizhou & Zhang, Jiqiang & Zheng, Guozhong & Chen, Li, 2021. "Social hierarchy promotes the cooperation prevalence," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 567(C).
    5. Pérez, Irene & Janssen, Marco A., 2015. "The effect of spatial heterogeneity and mobility on the performance of social–ecological systems," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 296(C), pages 1-11.
    6. Li, Minlan & Liu, Yan-Ping & Han, Yanyan & Wang, Rui-Wu, 2022. "Environmental heterogeneity unifies the effect of spatial structure on the altruistic cooperation in game-theory paradigms," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    7. Alex McAvoy & Christoph Hauert, 2015. "Asymmetric Evolutionary Games," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-26, August.
    8. Liu, Linjie & Chen, Xiaojie, 2022. "Effects of interconnections among corruption, institutional punishment, and economic factors on the evolution of cooperation," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 425(C).
    9. Wang, Xiaoyue & He, Zhixue & Shi, Lei, 2024. "Conformity poses a double-edged sword effect on the evolution of cooperation within heterogeneous endowment populations," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    10. Qi Su & Lei Zhou & Long Wang, 2019. "Evolutionary multiplayer games on graphs with edge diversity," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, April.
    11. Jin, Jiahua & Chu, Chen & Shen, Chen & Guo, Hao & Geng, Yini & Jia, Danyang & Shi, Lei, 2018. "Heterogeneous fitness promotes cooperation in the spatial prisoner's dilemma game," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 141-146.

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