The emergence of division of labor in a structured response threshold model

Viviane M. de Oliveira and Paulo R.A. Campos

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2019, vol. 517, issue C, 153-162

Abstract: We a propose an adaptive population model, which is structured in groups, to investigate the appearance of division of labor. In the model, the individuals respond to a given set of stimuli according to their propensities for producing the action. In this study, the individuals’ response thresholds can evolve due to mutation and selection at the colony level. Two alternative formulations are presented: in the former, the colonies are subject to strict conditions and need to fulfill a certain level of productivity, ηcr, across all tasks in order to ensure their expansion and thence its propagation. In the second formulation, tasks determining the group’s growth rate and the group’s viability are uncoupled. We observe the emergence of division of labor over a broad range of parameter values. The two models display distinct behavior concerning the resulting levels of functional specialization in terms of ηcr mainly due to the strength of between-group selection. On the other hand, the dependence of the level of specialization on colony size is strikingly similar, and unlike found in previous approaches, a positive correlation between division of labor and colony size is not always verified.

Keywords: Division of labor; Response thresholds; Structured populations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:517:y:2019:i:c:p:153-162

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2018.11.023

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