Evolution of cooperation and competition in multilayer networks

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhu, Wenqiang, Wang, Xin, Wang, Chaoqian, Xing, Weijie, Liu, Longzhao, Zheng, Hongwei, Zhao, Jingwu, Tang, Shaoting
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908513832271872
author Zhu, Wenqiang
Wang, Xin
Wang, Chaoqian
Xing, Weijie
Liu, Longzhao
Zheng, Hongwei
Zhao, Jingwu
Tang, Shaoting
author_facet Zhu, Wenqiang
Wang, Xin
Wang, Chaoqian
Xing, Weijie
Liu, Longzhao
Zheng, Hongwei
Zhao, Jingwu
Tang, Shaoting
contents 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.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_07213
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evolution of cooperation and competition in multilayer networks
Zhu, Wenqiang
Wang, Xin
Wang, Chaoqian
Xing, Weijie
Liu, Longzhao
Zheng, Hongwei
Zhao, Jingwu
Tang, Shaoting
Physics and Society
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
Computational Physics
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.
title Evolution of cooperation and competition in multilayer networks
topic Physics and Society
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.07213