Information exchange promotes and jeopardizes cooperation on interdependent networks

Abstract Information exchange has a significant influence on human behaviour decision-making. To explore the impact of the information exchange mechanism on the evolution of cooperative behaviour on the complex networks, we establish two-layer interdependent networks. Individuals have a certain probability of having information exchange with individuals on another network. In detail, when individuals residing on different networks are connected by links, the update of strategies not only depends on their own payoffs, but also depends on the strategy selections of the corresponding nodes and neighbours on the other network. Numerous simulations reveal that high cooperation level can be achieved for a large coupling probability and intermediate heterogeneity. Counter-intuitively, cooperation is not always promoted by the expansion of information sources. Our study thus enhances the understanding of the evolution of cooperation on interdependent networks.