Incentive strategies for the evolution of cooperation: Analysis and optimization

¹ School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu, 611731, China
² College of Science, Northwest A & F University - Yangling, 712100, China
³ Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen - Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands

^(b) xiaojiechen@uestc.edu.cn (corresponding author)

Received: 29 September 2021
Accepted: 23 November 2021

Abstract

How to explain why cooperation can emerge in the real society is one of the most challenging scientific problems. In the past few years, in order to solve the evolutionary puzzle of cooperation, researchers have put forward a variety of solutions and accordingly proposed some mechanisms for the evolution of cooperation. Among them, the implementation of prosocial incentive strategy can increase the benefits of cooperators or reduce the benefits of defectors, which has been regarded as an effective measure to solve the cooperation problem. In this perspective, we provide a mini yet profound review of recent research efforts that explore the roles of incentive strategies in the evolution of cooperation and how to design the optimal incentive protocols to promote the evolution of cooperation more efficiently. Importantly, we show some crucial developments about incentive strategies which have been made in the field and meanwhile come up with some significant routes of further research.