Inter-groups information exchange drives Cooperation in the Public Goods Game

TL;DR

This paper investigates how sharing payoff information across groups enhances cooperation in the Public Goods game, revealing that cross-information significantly promotes cooperative behavior across various game versions and interaction structures.

Contribution

It introduces the concept that inter-group payoff information exchange is a key factor in fostering cooperation, expanding understanding beyond traditional network or structure-based approaches.

Findings

Cross-information significantly increases cooperation levels.

The positive effect persists across different game variants.

Information exchange accelerates the emergence of cooperative traits.

Abstract

In this manuscript we explore the onset of cooperative traits in the Public Goods game. This well-known game involves N-agent interactions and thus reproduces a large number of social scenarios in which cooperation appears to be essential. Many studies have recently addressed how the structure of the interaction patterns influences the emergence of cooperation. Here we study how information about the payoffs collected by each individual in the different groups it participates in, influences the decisions made by its group partners. Our results point out that cross-information plays a fundamental and positive role in the evolution of cooperation for different versions of the Public Goods game and different interaction structures.