Effects of inequality on a spatial evolutionary public goods game

Jinzhuo Liu, Mao Peng, Yunchen Peng, Yong Li, Chen Chu, Xiaoyu Li () and Qing Liu ()
Additional contact information
Jinzhuo Liu: Yunnan University
Mao Peng: Yunnan University
Yunchen Peng: Yunnan University
Yong Li: Yunnan University
Chen Chu: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Xiaoyu Li: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Qing Liu: Yunnan University

The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, 2021, vol. 94, issue 8, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Over the past decade, inequality has become one of the most complex and troubling challenges in the global economy. Many scientists are determined to eliminate inequality to achieve full cooperation. However, our research shows that not all inequalities hinder cooperation. In this article, we study the effects of inequality by introducing the disassortative mixing of the investment amount and enhancement factor assigned to certain individuals in the public goods game. Compared with the traditional version, we find that cooperation can be effectively promoted by aligned inequality, which means that individuals with the highest (lowest) investment capabilities contribute the greatest (lowest) investment amounts. The promotion of cooperation mainly depends on the heterogeneous contribution ability of players. Specifically, cooperators with high contribution ability can maximize collective benefits, causing cooperators with low contribution ability to form compact clusters and resist invasion by defectors. Our research indicates that the diversity of individual endowment and productivity may have a non-negligible influence on the evolution of cooperation among selfish individuals. Graphic Abstract The frequency of cooperation $$\rho _{c}$$ ρ c as a function of the enhancement factor r for different correlation coefficients.

Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1140/epjb/s10051-021-00177-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eurphb:v:94:y:2021:i:8:d:10.1140_epjb_s10051-021-00177-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10051

DOI: 10.1140/epjb/s10051-021-00177-w

Access Statistics for this article

The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems is currently edited by P. Hänggi and Angel Rubio

More articles in The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems from Springer, EDP Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().