When Does Optional Participation Allow The Evolution Of Cooperation?

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 01 Jan 2009 - 3:00 PST

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Humans, unlike most other mammals, cooperate in large groups of unrelated individuals. Such cooperation can be evolutionarily stable if free-riders are punished.

But it is harder to explain the origins of punishment, because punishing free riders is costly when most individuals are defectors. Allowing individuals to opt out of the cooperative venture is one proposed solution to this problem.

ere, we extend the optional participation framework so that it can apply to a wide range of cooperation observed in human societies, and analyse the types of cooperative activities and payoffs for which cooperation sustained by punishment can arise.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences