Natalie Glance and Bernardo Huberman
Dynamics of Computation Group
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
Palo Alto, CA 94304
huberman@parc.xerox.com
@INCOLLECTION {,
AUTHOR = "Natalie Glance and Bernardo A. Huberman",
TITLE = "Social Dilemmas and Fluid Organizations",
BOOKTITLE = "Computational Organization Theory",
EDITOR = "Kathleen M. Carley and Michael J. Prietula",
PAGES = "217-240",
PUBLISHER = "Lawrence Erlbaum Associates",
ADDRESS = "Hillsdale, New Jersey",
YEAR = "1994"}
We show that fluid organizations display higher levels of cooperation
than attainable by groups with either a fixed social structure or
lacking one altogether. By moving within the organization, individuals
cause restructurings that facilitate cooperation. Computer experiments
simulating fluid organizations faced with a social dilemma reveal a
myriad of complex cooperative behaviors that result from the interplay
between individual strategies and structural changes. Significantly,
fluid organizations can display long cycles of sustained cooperation
interrupted by short bursts of defection.
postcript (609K, 17 pages)