Evolution of cooperation and competition in multilayer networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a two-layer evolutionary game model to study how feedback mechanisms between cooperation and competition influence social welfare, revealing conditions under which feedback promotes or inhibits cooperation.

Contribution

The study presents a novel two-layer model with cross-layer feedback linking cooperation and competition, highlighting how feedback strength affects social welfare and cooperation.

Findings

Moderate resource and synergy values promote social welfare with strong feedback.

Feedback can either promote or inhibit cooperation depending on baseline conditions.

Managing feedback mechanisms can balance cooperation and competition in social systems.

Abstract

Cooperation and competition coexist and coevolve in natural and social systems. Cooperation generates resources, which in turn, drive non-cooperative competition to secure individual shares. How this complex interplay between cooperation and competition shapes the evolution of social dilemmas and welfare remains unknown. In this study, we introduce a two-layer evolutionary game model, in which one layer is a cooperative public goods game, and the other is a competitive involution game, with cross-layer feedback linking the two. We find that feedback can either promote or inhibit cooperation, depending on the baseline conditions. For example, moderate resource and synergy factor values can promote social welfare when feedback strength is large. This provides an approach to adjusting the strength and asymmetry of cross-layer feedback to promote cooperation and social welfare. We thus emphasize the importance of managing feedback mechanisms to balance cooperation and competition in complex social systems.