Evolutionary games and the evolution of cooperation

Abstract

In a group of individuals that come together to produce a good or provide a service the cooperators who pay to produce the good, are often exploited by those who receive the benefit without paying the cost. Models were developed over time using incentives (rewards or punishment) and the option of leaving the initiative to promote and stabilize the cooperation. In this paper we analyze several models that use as a framework the evolutionary game theory and public goods games. We compare them and systematized their characteristics in a table to select the most suitable for a specific problem. To apply the models we chose the problem of cooperation in community projects of water supply. The comparative results demonstrate that the level of cooperation obtained depends on the mechanisms used, how they are applied and the initial composition of the population.