Incentives For Cooperation Research Articles

Online travel agency or blockchain-based platform?

Online travel agency has been used by most hotels to attract customers. However, hefty commissions and unverified reviews reduce hotels' cooperation intentions. Armed with unique advantages, blockchain-based platforms with higher blockchain-adoption costs can alternatively offer peer-to-peer booking service. This paper investigates the hotels' choice strategies on online travel platforms, blockchain-adoption conditions, and effects of blockchain-based platform. The results show that marginal blockchain cost, commission rate and customers' perceived distrust value of online reviews have great influence on the hotels' decisions. Although blockchain-based platforms can create win-win situations for hotel(s) and customers, they are not widely available as it is considered imperfect and costly. Alarmingly, there exists an invalidation effect of online travel platforms in a competitive market, resulting in non-equilibrium.

The Impression Management Consequences of Hiding Effort Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Authenticity.

Hiding effort has become prevalent among adolescents; however, whether this behavior benefits or harms their social impression remains unclear. The study explored whether hiding effort is an effective impression management strategy to obtain high popularity, likeability, interpersonal trust, and cooperation intention from peers. Using hypothetical scenarios, Study 1 (N = 243) found that hiding effort led to lower popularity, likeability, interpersonal trust, and cooperation intention among adolescents. Study 2 (N = 176) replicated the findings of Study 1 and found that the hiding-effort adolescents did not realize these negative consequences. Furthermore, Study 2 revealed that authenticity mediated the effect of hiding effort on popularity, likeability, interpersonal trust, and cooperation intention. The findings provided theoretical and practical implications for educators and adolescents. Educators should foster environments where effort and authenticity are rewarded. Adolescents should understand the cost of hiding efforts from peers.

Digital and smart technologies to enhance biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: An analysis of stakeholders’ perceptions of opportunities and challenges for broader adoption

Digital and smart technologies (DSTs1) for agriculture are currently widely discussed in the literature and increasingly included in common farming practices. However, the main agricultural use of DSTs remains yield-increasing and effort-reducing applications focused on the economic advantages of precision. The potential of DSTs to enhance biodiversity in agricultural landscapes has rarely been examined, especially from the stakeholder perspective. In this study, we examined the barriers to and potential for using DSTs to promote biodiversity in agricultural areas in Germany. For this purpose, we conducted a nationwide stakeholder acceptance analysis based on an online survey and an expert discussion. Our analysis revealed the notable potential of DSTs to strengthen biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, which is, however, accompanied by critical barriers to the broad acceptance and regular use of such technologies by farmers. Only if based on adequate legal and financial political framework, which create incentives for solution-focused cooperation among all relevant stakeholders and allow a user-orientated technology development, can DSTs develop their underlying potential and gain acceptance among farmers.

Leveraging Cooperative Intent and Actuator Constraints for Safe Trajectory Planning of Autonomous Vehicles in Uncertain Traffic Scenarios

This study explores the integration of dynamic vehicle trajectories, vehicle safety factors, static traffic environments, and actuator constraints to improve cooperative intent modeling for autonomous vehicles (AVs) navigating uncertain traffic scenarios. Existing models often focus solely on interactions between dynamic trajectories, limiting their ability to fully interpret the intentions of surrounding vehicles. To address this limitation, we present a more comprehensive approach using the Cooperative Intent Multi-Layer Graph Neural Network (CMGNN) model. The CMGNN analyzes not only the dynamic trajectories but also the lane position relationships, vehicle angle changes, and actuator constraints and performs group interaction analysis. This richer information allows the CMGNN to more accurately capture the cooperative intent and better understand the surrounding vehicle behavior. This study investigated the impact of the CMGNN in the Carla simulator on surrounding vehicle trajectory prediction and AV safe trajectory planning. An innovative mechanism for dynamic trajectory risk assessment is introduced, which takes into account the constraints of the actuators when evaluating trajectory planning metrics. The results show that incorporating cooperative intent and considering the actuator limitations enhanced the CMGNN’s safety and driving efficiency in uncertain scenarios, significantly reducing the probability of AVs colliding. This is achieved as the model dynamically adapts its driving strategy based on the real-time traffic conditions, the perceived intentions of the surrounding vehicles, and the physical constraints of the vehicle actuators.

Callousness, exploitativeness, and tracking of cooperation incentives in the human default network

Human cognitive capacities that enable flexible cooperation may have evolved in parallel with the expansion of frontoparietal cortical networks, particularly the default network. Conversely, human antisocial behavior and trait antagonism are broadly associated with reduced activity, impaired connectivity, and altered structure of the default network. Yet, behaviors like interpersonal manipulation and exploitation may require intact or even superior social cognition. Using a reinforcement learning model of decision-making on a modified trust game, we examined how individuals adjusted their cooperation rate based on a counterpart's cooperation and social reputation. We observed that learning signals in the default network updated the predicted utility of cooperation or defection and scaled with reciprocal cooperation. These signals were weaker in callous (vs. compassionate) individuals but stronger in those who were more exploitative (vs. honest and humble). Further, they accounted for associations between exploitativeness, callousness, and reciprocal cooperation. Separately, behavioral sensitivity to prior reputation was reduced in callous but not exploitative individuals and selectively scaled with responses of the medial temporal subsystem of the default network. Overall, callousness was characterized by blunted behavioral and default network sensitivity to cooperation incentives. Exploitativeness predicted heightened sensitivity to others' cooperation but not social reputation. We speculate that both compassion and exploitativeness may reflect cognitive adaptations to social living, enabled by expansion of the default network in anthropogenesis.

Visualising quantum innovation: A regional case study.

At the beginning of this century, the advent of a second generation of 'quantum technologies' was announced together with its revolutionary potential to change existing information technologies. Despite the rapidly increasing paid to quantum technological development, there has been little attention paid to the specific characteristics or relationships within emerging quantum ecosystems. The aim of this study is to visualize the innovation structures and relationships that are emerging to shape these technological developments. As these structures typically depend on specific regional features, we have specifically focused on the Spanish case, as it is potentially indicative of the differences between European innovation models and other regional patterns. This objective was achieved by researching the funding network of the ecosystem, collected from a systematic review of various official sources and relevant previous literature. The resulting dataset was framed using the Innovation Ecosystem model and broken down through network analysis theory, as well as characterized through descriptive statistics. This framework identified the significant role that projects play in European scientific and technological innovation, which work as hubs to concentrate resources and incentive cooperation between actors. This is relevant because current work on quantum technologies neglects their importance, as their analysis focuses on the quantity of institutions rather than their relations. Moreover, this paper points out the prominence of public funding to drive quantum innovation, largely stemming from the European Commission. This is another key mechanism that is missed by the existing literature. Finally, it also sheds light on the recipients of this funding, who are mostly research centres. These results allow us to conceptualize the Spanish quantum ecosystem and offer the opportunity for comparative studies with other quantum technologies ecosystems.

Facilitating Interfirm Collaboration by Using Social Media

ABSTRACT Purpose Using social media (SM) in the workplace is controversial. Managers are concerned about boundary spanners’ heavy use of SM for unproductive activities, while boundary spanners need task-focused SM usage to enhance cooperative intention, share mutual knowledge, and build long-term relations. To clarify the effects of SM usage, the authors draw on task–technology fit (TTF) theory to examine how task-focused SM usage (TSM) and relationship-focused SM usage (RSM) influence the efficacy of interpersonal guanxi in China’s emerging economy. Methodology/approach The authors test the proposed theoretical model by collecting 550 valid questionnaires of survey data from manufacturers in China. Ordinary least squares regression is used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. Findings The results of the statistical analysis show that interpersonal guanxi improves interfirm coordination and exchange performance. Furthermore, TSM usage strengthens the positive impact of interpersonal guanxi on interfirm coordination but weakens the positive effect of interpersonal guanxi on exchange performance, while RSM usage enhances its positive impact on exchange performance but weakens the positive effect of interpersonal guanxi on interfirm coordination. Research implications This study contributes to the literature by developing and testing the TTF-based framework of interpersonal guanxi and SM usage. The finding enriches our knowledge on the roles of interpersonal guanxi in the business-to-business (B2B) context. Practical implications This study offers the guidance for firms using SM in the B2B context. SM usage should be fited with firms’ and boundary spanners’ tasks, considering the complementary and supplementary nature of SM usage. Originality/value/contribution This study tests the different roles of SM usage, i.e., TSM versus RSM, in fostering the efficacy of interpersonal guanxi, providing a meaningful perspective on firms’ knowledge activities. Moreover, by proposing a TTF-based framework of interpersonal guanxi and SM usage, it explores the informational roles of boundary spanners’ SM usage in promoting dyadic relationships.

335. Personality Pathology and the Tracking of Cooperation Incentives in the Human Default Network

335. Personality Pathology and the Tracking of Cooperation Incentives in the Human Default Network

Impoliteness in polylogal intercultural communication among Asian EFL learners

Abstract By regarding impoliteness as a dynamic process, this research examined impoliteness in the polylogal intercultural communication among Asian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL), including the impoliteness acts by the face-threat initiators, and the responses to the impoliteness acts by both the face-threat recipients and the face-threat witnesses. Moreover, it attempted to identify the factors that caused impoliteness in intercultural communication. Eighty-four Asian EFL learners from five Asian countries were engaged in this research. This research used group discussions to collect the nearly naturally occurring communication. The result illustrated that Asian EFL learners used the criticize/dispraise the hearer impoliteness strategy most frequently. Two new impoliteness strategies were identified, namely the use of the face-threat initiator’s first language (L1), and the use of inappropriate English expressions. In addition, a new reaction was used by both the face-threat recipients and the face-threat witnesses, namely the confirmation of impoliteness. A dynamic model of impoliteness based on the results of this research was proposed. Furthermore, six factors that caused impoliteness were discussed, including different individual cultural variations, accommodation to the intercultural communication, the degree of mindfulness, the individual prior experience of knowledge about the English language, the English proficiency levels of the EFL learners, and differences in individual salience that resulted in the failure of cooperative intention by the interactants in the intercultural communication. This research attempts to fill the lacuna in impoliteness studies in the fields of intercultural communication and intercultural pragmatics.

Space-time mapping relationships in sensorimotor communication during asymmetric joint action.

Sensorimotor communication is frequently observed in complex joint actions and social interactions. However, it remains challenging to explore the cognitive foundations behind sensorimotor communication. The present study extends previous research by introducing a single-person baseline condition and formulates two distinct categories of asymmetric joint action tasks: distance tasks and orientation tasks. This research investigates the action performance of 65 participants under various experimental conditions utilizing a 2 (cooperative intention: Coop, No-coop) × 2 (task characteristic: distance, orientation) × 4 (target: T1, T2, T3, T4) repeated-measures experimental design to investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying sensorimotor communication between individuals. The results showed that (1) target key dwell time, motion time, total motion time, and maximum motion height in the Coop condition are more than in the No-coop condition. (2) In the distance task without cooperative intention, the dwell time of T4 is smaller than T1, T2, T3, and its variability of T1, T2, T3, and T4 were no different. In the distance task with cooperative intention, the dwell time and its variability of T1, T2, T3, and T4 displayed an increasing trend. (3) In the orientation task without cooperative intention, the dwell time of T1 is smaller than T2, T3, T4, and variability of the target keys T1, T2, T3, and T4 had no difference. In the orientation task with cooperative intention, the dwell time and variability of the target keys T1, T2, T3, and T4 had increasing trends. Those findings underscore the importance of cooperative intention for sensorimotor communication. In the distance task with cooperative intention, message senders establish a mapping relationship characterized by "near-small, far-large" between the task distance and the individual's action characteristics through sensorimotor experience. In the orientation task with cooperative intention, message senders combined sensorimotor experience and verbal metaphors to establish a mapping relationship between task orientation and action characteristics, following the sequence of "left-up, right-up, left-down, right-down" to transmit the message to others.

Prosocial dynamics in multiagent systems

AbstractMeeting today's major scientific and societal challenges requires understanding dynamics of prosociality in complex adaptive systems. Artificial intelligence (AI) is intimately connected with these challenges, both as an application domain and as a source of new computational techniques: On the one hand, AI suggests new algorithmic recommendations and interaction paradigms, offering novel possibilities to engineer cooperation and alleviate conflict in multiagent (hybrid) systems; on the other hand, new learning algorithms provide improved techniques to simulate sophisticated agents and increasingly realistic environments. In various settings, prosocial actions are socially desirable yet individually costly, thereby introducing a social dilemma of cooperation. How can AI enable cooperation in such domains? How to understand long‐term dynamics in adaptive populations subject to such cooperation dilemmas? How to design cooperation incentives in multiagent learning systems? These are questions that I have been exploring and that I discussed during the New Faculty Highlights program at AAAI 2023. This paper summarizes and extends that talk.

Hordes of Struggling African Youths will Continue to Migrate En Masse to Developed Countries: The Political Economy of “Japa” from Nigeria to the United Kingdom (2015-2023)

This study explores the mass emigration from Nigeria to the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as ‘Japa,’ and its implications for Nigeria’s political economy. The research employs a documentary method, analysing secondary data sources through qualitative content analysis. The study is grounded in the push-pull theory, which posits that adverse conditions in Nigeria act as ‘push’ factors, driving individuals to seek better opportunities abroad, the ‘pull’ factors. The findings reveal that unemployment, and uncertainty about Nigeria’s economic and political future are significant push factors fueling the mass exodus of Nigerians to the UK. The brain drain associated with this phenomenon has profoundly impacted Nigeria’s political economy, resulting in the depletion of skilled labour, loss of human capital, reduced productivity, and stagnated innovation. Furthermore, the study highlights the economic implications, including diminished GDP contributions, diversion of funds for medical tourism, and loss of educational investments. The research recommends economic diversification, job creation, enhanced governance, political stability, investment in education and infrastructure, incentives for skilled professionals, diaspora engagement, and international cooperation to mitigate the challenges of mass migration and brain drain. These strategies aim to address the root causes of emigration and facilitate brain gain.

Peace is a form of cooperation, and so are the cultural technologies which make peace possible.

While necessary parts of the puzzle, cultural technologies are insufficient to explain peace. They are a form of second-order cooperation - a cooperative interaction designed to incentivize first-order cooperation. We propose an explanation for peacemaking cultural technologies, and therefore peace, based on the reputational incentives for second-order cooperation.

The framework for analyzing the mechanism of the evolution of inter-city relationship networks on regional economic resilience.

In this paper, we applied an analytical framework called "city cooperation intention → city relationship network → regional economic resilience," while considering the concept of externality as a measure of city cooperation intention, to draw insights from the perspectives of city relationships, biological evolution, and evolutionary economy. The evaluation system we developed focuses on the impact of inherent city culture on the inter-city relationship network, using variables such as knowledge spillover effect, technology symbiosis index, and market structure. We also incorporated innovation, resilience, and regeneration as determinants of regional economic resilience, building upon previous research findings. By applying structural force theory and a three-dimensional coordinate method, we analyzed the correlation between the relationship network and regional economic resilience, established a model to illustrate how the relationship network influences regional economic resilience, and described the course of action taken by the "three factors" of the relationship network on regional economic resilience. Ultimately, the aim of this study is to uncover the mechanism through which the inter-city relationship network affects regional economic resilience, with implications for healthy city design.

What makes us “we”? The positivity bias in essentialist beliefs about group attributes

Psychological essentialism refers to the tendency to view entities as having enduring properties that make them what they are (i.e., essences). Emerging research suggests people possess a positivity bias in essentialism (PBE), a preference to view positively (vs. negatively) evaluated attributes as the essences of an entity. Four experiments (total N = 1020) tested group attributes' association (ingroup vs. outgroup) as a boundary condition of PBE. We expected PBE to be stronger for ingroup than for outgroup and this difference to be accentuated by (a) identity centrality and (b) self-uncertainty. In Studies 1–3, we asked participants to generate one positive attribute and one negative attribute for ingroup and outgroup respectively and measured PBE. PBE was found to be stronger for ingroup attributes and was even reversed for outgroup attributes. Identity centrality, but not self-uncertainty, accentuated this effect. In the pre-registered Study 4, we asked participants to generate as many attributes as possible and replicated the main findings. Moreover, we found differences in PBE, along with intergroup affect, prospectively accounted for intergroup cooperative intentions. The findings suggest that essentialist beliefs about attributes are constrained by collective self-enhancement and have unique implications in intergroup contexts.

Blockchain-driven incentive mechanism for agricultural water-saving: A tripartite game model

Implementing water-saving agriculture is an important measure to alleviate water resource shortage, improve agricultural ecological environment, and achieve sustainable agricultural development. However, both water-saving service companies (WSSCs) and farmers often lack the motivation to adopt water-saving practices due to the high implementation costs involved. To overcome this shortcoming, this study aims to design a blockchain-driven incentive mechanism based on the evolutionary game theory, in which the government, WSSCs and farmers are game subjects and the idea of cooperative incentive for the government is introduced. Through analyzing the complex interactions among various stakeholders and agricultural water-saving incentives, some findings of this study are obtained. Firstly, the usage of blockchain technology (BT) in the incentive mechanism for agricultural water-saving is reflected in supervision and additional default costs, which promote the sustainable cooperation among government, WSSCs and farmers in varying degrees. Secondly, the additional default costs brought by the usage of BT have a deterrent effect on WSSCs and farmers, which makes them to actively implement water-saving practices. Thirdly, the additional default cost brought by BT has become the main basis for the government to choose BT supervision. As the additional default cost increases, the government are not more inclined to use BT. It provides valuable insights into motivating diverse stakeholders to actively participate in water-saving practices, promoting sustainable water resources management in agriculture.

Cooperation maintenance in dynamic discrete-time multicriteria games with application to bioresource management problem

We consider a dynamic, discrete-time, game model where the players use a common resource and seek to optimize different criteria. The center (referee) shares the resource available for exploitation between the competitors. To construct a multicriteria Nash equilibrium the bargaining solution is adopted. To obtain a multicriteria cooperative equilibrium, a modified bargaining scheme that guarantees the fulfillment of individual rationality conditions is applied. Two approaches to maintain cooperative behavior, namely, the cooperative incentive equilibrium and the time-consistent payoff distribution procedure, are considered. Moreover, the cooperative incentive equilibrium is constructed under the assumption that the center punishes players for deviations. A dynamic bi-criteria bioresource management problem is investigated to illustrate the solution concepts proposed.

Parasocial Interactions in Digital Tourism: Attributes of Live Streamers and Viewer Engagement Dynamics in South Korea.

This study investigates the use of live streaming as a strategic tool in the tourism industry, with a focus on the attributes of live streamers that influence viewer engagement, particularly in the context of South Korea's digital landscape. The purpose of this research is to understand how the attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise of live streamers can affect the parasocial relationships-characterized by perceived friendship and trust-between viewers and streamers and how these relationships subsequently influence viewer loyalty and cooperation intentions. A quantitative research methodology was employed, utilizing a structured online survey distributed by a leading market research agency in South Korea. The survey targeted a diverse demographic to ensure a comprehensive analysis of digital consumer behavior in the tourism sector. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 28.0 and IBM SPSS Amos 28.0, employing structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships. The results revealed that while attractiveness and trustworthiness impact perceived friendship, only expertise significantly affects trust for a travel live streamer. Furthermore, perceived friendship plays a crucial role in fostering loyalty to and cooperation with the streamer, having practical implications for the tourism industry in terms of crafting marketing strategies and training digital ambassadors. Th study extends parasocial interaction theory to the digital travel domain, providing original insights into virtual tourist behavior and highlighting live streaming's significant contribution to viewer engagement. This research has limitations in its geographical focus on South Korea, suggesting the need for cross-cultural studies to validate the findings. Overall, this study offers valuable contributions to the academic literature and practical guidance for the tourism industry, emphasizing the importance of digital personalities in post-pandemic tourism recovery strategies.

Music production and its role in coalition signaling during foraging contexts in a hunter-gatherer society.

Music is a cultural activity universally present in all human societies. Several hypotheses have been formulated to understand the possible origins of music and the reasons for its emergence. Here, we test two hypotheses: (1) the coalition signaling hypothesis which posits that music could have emerged as a tool to signal cooperative intent and signal strength of alliances and (2) music as a strategy to deter potential predators. In addition, we further explore the link between tactile cues and the propensity of mothers to sing toward infants. For this, we investigated the singing behaviors of hunter-gatherer mothers during daily foraging trips among the Mbendjele BaYaka in the Republic of the Congo. Although singing is a significant component of their daily activities, such as when walking in the forest or collecting food sources, studies on human music production in hunter-gatherer societies are mostly conducted during their ritual ceremonies. In this study, we collected foraging and singing behavioral data of mothers by using focal follows of five BaYaka women during their foraging trips in the forest. In accordance with our predictions for the coalition signaling hypothesis, women were more likely to sing when present in large groups, especially when group members were less familiar. However, predictions of the predation deterrence hypothesis were not supported as the interaction between group size and distance from the village did not have a significant effect on the likelihood of singing. The latter may be due to limited variation in predation risk in the foraging areas, because of the intense bush meat trade, and hence, future studies should include foraging areas with higher densities of wild animals. Lastly, we found that mothers were more likely to sing when they were carrying infants compared to when infants were close, but carried by others, supporting the prediction that touch plays an important prerequisite role in musical interaction between the mother and child. Our study provides important insight into the role of music as a tool in displaying the intent between or within groups to strengthen potentially conflict-free alliances during joint foraging activities.

SRM on the table: the role of geoengineering for the stability and effectiveness of climate coalitions

Geoengineering, including solar radiation management (SRM), has received increasing scrutiny due to the rise of climate extremes and slow progress in mitigating global carbon emissions. This climate policy option, even as a possibility, can have consequential implications for international climate governance. Here, we study how solar engineering affects the effectiveness and stability of a large set of regional coalitions through numerical simulations. We posit a requirement in terms of global political or economic power and analyze the exclusive membership coalition formation process when coalitions jointly decide on geoengineering and mitigation. We show that geoengineering can provide incentives for cooperation and partially solve the typical trade-off between stability and effectiveness of climate coalitions. However, temperature reduction mostly comes from deploying SRM within the coalition rather than from further emission reductions, thus exposing the world to relatively large-scale deployment of SRM with as of today uncertain potential side effects and risks.