Synergies between evolutionary game theory and statistical physics havesignificantly improved our understanding of public cooperation instructured populations. Multiplex networks, in particular, provide thetheoretical framework within network science that allows us tomathematically describe the rich structure of interactionscharacterizing human societies. While research has shown that multiplexnetworks may enhance the resilience of cooperation, the interplaybetween the overlap in the structure of the layers and the controlparameters of the corresponding games has not yet been investigated.With this aim, we consider here the public goods game on a multiplexnetwork, and we unveil the role of the number of layers and the overlapof links, as well as the impact of different synergy factors indifferent layers, on the onset of cooperation. We show that enhancedpublic cooperation emerges only when a significant edge overlap iscombined with at least one layer being able to sustain some cooperationby means of a sufficiently high synergy factor. In the absence of eitherof these conditions, the evolution of cooperation in multiplex networksis determined by the bounds of traditional network reciprocity with noenhanced resilience. These results caution against overly optimisticpredictions that the presence of multiple social domains may in itselfpromote cooperation, and they help us better understand the complexitybehind prosocial behavior in layered social systems.

Determinants of public cooperation in multiplex networks

Vito Latora
2017-01-01

Abstract

Synergies between evolutionary game theory and statistical physics havesignificantly improved our understanding of public cooperation instructured populations. Multiplex networks, in particular, provide thetheoretical framework within network science that allows us tomathematically describe the rich structure of interactionscharacterizing human societies. While research has shown that multiplexnetworks may enhance the resilience of cooperation, the interplaybetween the overlap in the structure of the layers and the controlparameters of the corresponding games has not yet been investigated.With this aim, we consider here the public goods game on a multiplexnetwork, and we unveil the role of the number of layers and the overlapof links, as well as the impact of different synergy factors indifferent layers, on the onset of cooperation. We show that enhancedpublic cooperation emerges only when a significant edge overlap iscombined with at least one layer being able to sustain some cooperationby means of a sufficiently high synergy factor. In the absence of eitherof these conditions, the evolution of cooperation in multiplex networksis determined by the bounds of traditional network reciprocity with noenhanced resilience. These results caution against overly optimisticpredictions that the presence of multiple social domains may in itselfpromote cooperation, and they help us better understand the complexitybehind prosocial behavior in layered social systems.
2017
Public goods game, public cooperation, evolutionary game theory, multiplex networks, multilayer networks.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/357670
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