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Payoff information hampers the evolution of cooperation
[journal article]
Abstract Human cooperation has been explained through rationality as well as heuristics-based models. Both model classes share the feature that knowledge of payoff functions is weakly beneficial for the emergence of cooperation. Here, we present experimental evidence to the contrary. We let human subjects in... view more
Human cooperation has been explained through rationality as well as heuristics-based models. Both model classes share the feature that knowledge of payoff functions is weakly beneficial for the emergence of cooperation. Here, we present experimental evidence to the contrary. We let human subjects interact in a competitive environment and find that, in the long run, access to information about own payoffs leads to less cooperative behaviour. In the short run subjects use naive learning heuristics that get replaced by better adapted heuristics in the long run. With more payoff information subjects are less likely to switch to pro-cooperative heuristics. The results call for the development of two-tier models for the evolution of cooperation.... view less
Classification
Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Economics
Free Keywords
Economics; Experimental evolution
Document language
English
Publication Year
2017
Page/Pages
p. 1-5
Journal
Nature Communications, 8 (2017)
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/10419/168050
ISSN
2041-1723
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed