The role of intra- and inter-group Matthew effect in the social dilemma of public goods games

Abstract

The Matthew effect describes the phenomenon where the rich tend to get richer. Such a success-driven mechanism has been studied in spatial public goods games in an inter-group way, where each individual's social power is enhanced across all groups. For instance, factors like knowledge can exert an advantage across various social contexts. In contrast, certain factors, especially local material goods, only enhance advantages within their current group. Building on this, we further explore the intra-group Matthew effect where the enhancement of social power is calculated separately in each group. Our findings indicate that the intra-group Matthew effect sustains cooperation more at high productivity, while the inter-group Matthew effect promotes cooperation at low productivity. Moreover, the mixture of the intra- and inter-group Matthew effect harms cooperation. This study provides insights into addressing social dilemmas by adjusting wealth accumulation across diverse social groups.