Cooperation driven by success-driven group formation
In the traditional setup of the public goods game all players are involved in every available group and the mutual benefit is shared among competing cooperator and defector strategies. However, in real life situations the group formation of players could be more sophisticated because not all players are attractive enough for others to participate in a joint venture. What if only those players who are successful enough to the neighbors can initiate a group formation and establish a game? To elaborate this idea we employ a modified protocol and demonstrate that a carefully chosen threshold to establish a joint venture could efficiently improve the cooperation level even if the synergy factor would suggest a full defector state otherwise. The microscopic mechanism that is responsible for this effect is based on the asymmetric consequences of competing strategies: while the success of a cooperator provides a long-time well-being for the neighborhood, the temporary advantage of defection cannot be maintained if the protocol is based on the success of leaders.