Emergence of Cooperation in a Model for Agricultural Production

Santiago Gil () and Aleix Serrat-Capdevila
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Santiago Gil: Complex Systems Group, Fritz-Haber-Institute der Max-Plank-Gesellschaft
Aleix Serrat-Capdevila: Department of Hydrology and Water Resources and SAHRA, The University of Arizona

Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, 2010, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: The emergence of cooperation in a model for an artificial farming society is studied here by the use of an agent-based model. The system is composed of an ensemble of N agents assumed to have equal access to water, whose availability fluctuates randomly in time. Each agent makes two decisions every sowing season regarding: (1) the type of crop mix to plant and (2) whether s/he joins, or not, a cooperative group that allocates water amongst farmers to maximize the production and share revenues equally. Results show that the degree to which farmers choose to cooperate has a strong dependency on the mean water availability. Cooperation seems to emerge as a way of adaptation to uncertain environments by which individual risk is minimized.

Keywords: cooperation; water uncertainty; farming; agent-based modelling; resource allocation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C63 O13 Q15 Q25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zna:indecs:v:8:y:2010:i:1:p:1-12

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