2008-06 A mathematical formalism for selfish and altruistic cooperation in social networks

A mathematical formalism for selfish and altruistic cooperation in social networks (with Chris Arney), technical report for the 2007 USMA Network Science Workshop, West Point, NY. PDF


Abstract: Agents in social networks may be motivated to cooperate for a variety of reasons. They may cooperate in order to advance their own agenda, or they may cooperate simply for the greater good. Such behaviors have dramatically different implications for the overall network, yet traditional game-theoretic definitions of cooperation do not distinguish between the two. This paper describes measures of cooperation that can distinguish between these two kinds of cooperation, along with several applications. The most promising result is perhaps a clear link between the mathematics of graph invariants and the social elements of selfish and altruistic cooperation.


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