Self-organization of common good usage and an application to Internet services

Area of Science:

• Complex Systems
• Behavioral Economics
• Resource Management

Background:

• Common goods face degradation and overuse challenges.
• Limited information complicates resource management for individuals.
• Decentralized strategies are needed for sustainable common good usage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate an extended Win-Stay, Lose-Shift (WSLS) strategy for managing common goods.
• To investigate how decentralized strategies promote balanced resource use with limited information.
• To explore the impact of adaptive individuals on population-wide resource quality.

Main Methods:

• Agent-based modeling simulating the WSLS strategy.
• Analysis of resource usage patterns in populations with varying adaptiveness.
• Application and simulation of the strategy to the mobile server selection problem.

Main Results:

• The extended WSLS strategy enables self-organization and balanced resource use.
• Adaptive individuals improve overall experienced quality across common goods.
• The strategy demonstrates success, scalability, and robustness in simulations.

Conclusions:

• The WSLS strategy offers a decentralized solution for managing common goods.
• It promotes equitable resource distribution and improved user experience.
• Applications range from technological commons to social and ecological systems.