https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2016-70043-5
Regular Article
Effect of network topology on the evolutionary ultimatum game based on the net-profit decision
1 Institute of Systems Engineering,
College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin
300072, P.R.
China
2 School of Mechanical Engineering,
Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan
Anhui
243002, P.R.
China
3 Columbia, Missouri, 65203, USA
a e-mail: xienenggang@aliyun.com
Received:
23
November
2015
Received in final form:
19
January
2016
Published online:
11
April
2016
The ubiquity of altruist behavior amongst humans has long been a significant puzzle in the social sciences. Ultimatum game has proved to be a useful tool for explaining altruistic behavior among selfish individuals. In an ultimatum game where alternating roles exist, we suppose that players make their decisions based on the net profit of their own. In this paper, we specify a player’s strategy with two parameters: offer level α ∈ [ 0,1) and net profit acceptance level β ∈ [ − 1,1). By Monte Carlo simulation, we analyze separately the effect of the size of the neighborhood, the small-world property and the heterogeneity of the degree distributions of the networks. Results show that compared with results observed for homogeneous networks, heterogeneous networks lead to more rational outcomes. Moreover, network structure has no effect on the evolution of kindness level, so moderate kindness is adaptable to any social groups and organizations.
Key words: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2016