IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-023-39625-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of environmental information on evolution of cooperation in stochastic games

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Kleshnina

    (Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse)

  • Christian Hilbe

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology)

  • Štěpán Šimsa

    (IST Austria
    Charles University)

  • Krishnendu Chatterjee

    (IST Austria)

  • Martin A. Nowak

    (Harvard University
    Harvard University)

Abstract

Many human interactions feature the characteristics of social dilemmas where individual actions have consequences for the group and the environment. The feedback between behavior and environment can be studied with the framework of stochastic games. In stochastic games, the state of the environment can change, depending on the choices made by group members. Past work suggests that such feedback can reinforce cooperative behaviors. In particular, cooperation can evolve in stochastic games even if it is infeasible in each separate repeated game. In stochastic games, participants have an interest in conditioning their strategies on the state of the environment. Yet in many applications, precise information about the state could be scarce. Here, we study how the availability of information (or lack thereof) shapes evolution of cooperation. Already for simple examples of two state games we find surprising effects. In some cases, cooperation is only possible if there is precise information about the state of the environment. In other cases, cooperation is most abundant when there is no information about the state of the environment. We systematically analyze all stochastic games of a given complexity class, to determine when receiving information about the environment is better, neutral, or worse for evolution of cooperation.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Kleshnina & Christian Hilbe & Štěpán Šimsa & Krishnendu Chatterjee & Martin A. Nowak, 2023. "The effect of environmental information on evolution of cooperation in stochastic games," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-39625-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39625-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-39625-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-39625-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fischbacher, Urs & Gachter, Simon & Fehr, Ernst, 2001. "Are people conditionally cooperative? Evidence from a public goods experiment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 397-404, June.
    2. 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.
    3. Bagh Adib & Kusunose Yoko, 2020. "On the Economic Value of Signals," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, January.
    4. John C. Harsanyi, 1967. "Games with Incomplete Information Played by "Bayesian" Players, I-III Part I. The Basic Model," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 159-182, November.
    5. Fudenberg, Drew & Imhof, Lorens A., 2006. "Imitation processes with small mutations," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 131(1), pages 251-262, November.
    6. Maria Abou Chakra & Silke Bumann & Hanna Schenk & Andreas Oschlies & Arne Traulsen, 2018. "Immediate action is the best strategy when facing uncertain climate change," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. García, Julián & van Veelen, Matthijs, 2016. "In and out of equilibrium I: Evolution of strategies in repeated games with discounting," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 161-189.
    8. Scott Barrett & Astrid Dannenberg, 2014. "Sensitivity of collective action to uncertainty about climate tipping points," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 36-39, January.
    9. Martin A. Nowak & Akira Sasaki & Christine Taylor & Drew Fudenberg, 2004. "Emergence of cooperation and evolutionary stability in finite populations," Nature, Nature, vol. 428(6983), pages 646-650, April.
    10. Christian Hilbe & Štěpán Šimsa & Krishnendu Chatterjee & Martin A. Nowak, 2018. "Evolution of cooperation in stochastic games," Nature, Nature, vol. 559(7713), pages 246-249, July.
    11. Abel, Martin & Byker, Tanya & Carpenter, Jeffrey, 2021. "Socially optimal mistakes? debiasing COVID-19 mortality risk perceptions and prosocial behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 456-480.
    12. Scott Barrett & Astrid Dannenberg, 2014. "On the Sensitivity of Collective Action to Uncertainty about Climate Tipping Points," CESifo Working Paper Series 4643, CESifo.
    13. Christian Hilbe & Krishnendu Chatterjee & Martin A. Nowak, 2018. "Publisher Correction: Partners and rivals in direct reciprocity," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(7), pages 523-523, July.
    14. Christian Hilbe & Krishnendu Chatterjee & Martin A. Nowak, 2018. "Partners and rivals in direct reciprocity," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(7), pages 469-477, July.
    15. Axelrod, Robert, 1981. "The Emergence of Cooperation among Egoists," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 75(2), pages 306-318, June.
    16. Oliver P. Hauser & Christian Hilbe & Krishnendu Chatterjee & Martin A. Nowak, 2019. "Social dilemmas among unequals," Nature, Nature, vol. 572(7770), pages 524-527, August.
    17. Tim Johnson & Christopher T. Dawes & James H. Fowler & Oleg Smirnov, 2020. "Slowing COVID-19 transmission as a social dilemma: Lessons for government officials from interdisciplinary research on cooperation," Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration, vol. 3(1).
    18. Flávio L Pinheiro & Vítor V Vasconcelos & Francisco C Santos & Jorge M Pacheco, 2014. "Evolution of All-or-None Strategies in Repeated Public Goods Dilemmas," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-5, November.
    19. Andrew R. Tilman & Joshua B. Plotkin & Erol Akçay, 2020. "Evolutionary games with environmental feedbacks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    20. Hilbe, Christian & Traulsen, Arne & Sigmund, Karl, 2015. "Partners or rivals? Strategies for the iterated prisoner's dilemma," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 41-52.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter S. Park & Martin A. Nowak & Christian Hilbe, 2022. "Cooperation in alternating interactions with memory constraints," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Shun Kurokawa & Joe Yuichiro Wakano & Yasuo Ihara, 2018. "Evolution of Groupwise Cooperation: Generosity, Paradoxical Behavior, and Non-Linear Payoff Functions," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-24, December.
    3. Ma, Xiaojian & Quan, Ji & Wang, Xianjia, 2023. "Evolution of cooperation with nonlinear environment feedback in repeated public goods game," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 452(C).
    4. Li, Bin-Quan & Wu, Zhi-Xi & Guan, Jian-Yue, 2022. "Critical thresholds of benefit distribution in an extended snowdrift game model," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    5. M. Kleshnina & K. Kaveh & K. Chatterjee, 2020. "The role of behavioural plasticity in finite vs infinite populations," Papers 2009.13160, arXiv.org.
    6. Aseem Mahajan & Reuben Kline & Dustin Tingley, 2022. "Collective Risk and Distributional Equity in Climate Change Bargaining," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 66(1), pages 61-90, January.
    7. Marta C. Couto & Saptarshi Pal, 2023. "Introspection Dynamics in Asymmetric Multiplayer Games," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1256-1285, December.
    8. Laura Schmid & Farbod Ekbatani & Christian Hilbe & Krishnendu Chatterjee, 2023. "Quantitative assessment can stabilize indirect reciprocity under imperfect information," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    9. Lisa Bruttel & Werner Güth & Juri Nithammer & Andreas Orland, 2022. "Inefficient Cooperation Under Stochastic and Strategic Uncertainty," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 66(4-5), pages 755-782, May.
    10. Ma, Yin-Jie & Jiang, Zhi-Qiang & Podobnik, Boris, 2022. "Predictability of players’ actions as a mechanism to boost cooperation," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    11. Ding, Zhen-Wei & Zheng, Guo-Zhong & Cai, Chao-Ran & Cai, Wei-Ran & Chen, Li & Zhang, Ji-Qiang & Wang, Xu-Ming, 2023. "Emergence of cooperation in two-agent repeated games with reinforcement learning," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 175(P1).
    12. Xiaofeng Wang, 2021. "Costly Participation and The Evolution of Cooperation in the Repeated Public Goods Game," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 161-183, March.
    13. Mike Farjam & Olexandr Nikolaychuk & Giangiacomo Bravo, 2018. "Does risk communication really decrease cooperation in climate change mitigation?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 147-158, July.
    14. Yali Dong & Cong Li & Yi Tao & Boyu Zhang, 2015. "Evolution of Conformity in Social Dilemmas," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-12, September.
    15. Astrid Dannenberg & Andreas Löschel & Gabriele Paolacci & Christiane Reif & Alessandro Tavoni, 2015. "On the Provision of Public Goods with Probabilistic and Ambiguous Thresholds," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 61(3), pages 365-383, July.
    16. Schuch, Esther & Dirks, Simone & Nhim, Tum & Richter, Andries, 2021. "Cooperation under social and strategic uncertainty – The role of risk and social capital in rural Cambodia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    17. David M. McEvoy & Tobias Haller & Esther Blanco, 2022. "The Role of Non-Binding Pledges in Social Dilemmas with Mitigation and Adaptation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(4), pages 685-710, April.
    18. Li, Xiaopeng & Hao, Gang & Zhang, Zhipeng & Xia, Chengyi, 2021. "Evolution of cooperation in heterogeneously stochastic interactions," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    19. Christian Hilbe & Maria Kleshnina & Kateřina Staňková, 2023. "Evolutionary Games and Applications: Fifty Years of ‘The Logic of Animal Conflict’," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1035-1048, December.
    20. repec:cla:levarc:786969000000001297 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Ben Balmford & Madeleine Marino & Oliver P. Hauser, 2024. "Voting Sustains Intergenerational Cooperation, Even When the Tipping Point Threshold is Ambiguous," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(1), pages 167-190, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-39625-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.