Original scientific paper

Emergence of Cooperation in a Model for Agricultural Production

Santiago Gil ; Complex Systems Group, Fritz-Haber-Institute der Max-Plank-Gesellschaft, Berlin
Aleix Serrat-Capdevila ; Department of Hydrology and Water Resources and SAHRA, The University of Arizona, Tucson

Abstract

The emergence of cooperation in a model for an artificial farming society is studied here by the use of an agent-based model. The system is composed of an ensemble of N agents assumed to have equal access to water, whose availability fluctuates randomly in time. Each agent makes two decisions every sowing season regarding: (1) the type of crop mix to plant and (2) whether s/he joins, or not, a cooperative group that allocates water amongst farmers to maximize the production and share
revenues equally. Results show that the degree to which farmers choose to cooperate has a strong dependency on the mean water availability. Cooperation seems to emerge as a way of adaptation to uncertain environments by which individual risk is minimized.

Keywords

cooperation; water uncertainty; farming; agent-based modelling; resource allocation

Hrčak ID:

76779

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/76779

Publication date:

1.7.2010.

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