mardi 2 avril 2024

Amos Korman, professor at the Department of Computer Science, University of Haifa  will take place on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 2 pm at Inria, Euler building, room E006. His talk entitled « Abundant resources can trigger reduced consumption : Unveiling the paradox of excessive scrounging »

Abstract : 

In game-theoretic scenarios, self-interest can sometimes lead to suboptimal outcomes. This talk explores a related phenomenon where increasing payoffs for a given strategy profile can paradoxically result in declining equilibrium payoffs as players adapt to the changing incentive structure. Using two basic games—one on group foraging and the other on workplace cooperation—I will demonstrate how improving individual efficiency can inadvertently promote free-riding behavior, ultimately leading to reduced outcomes at both group and individual levels. Specifically, in the foraging game, an increase in available food can lead to a decrease in food consumption, while in the workplace model, replacing workers with more skilled individuals can worsen both individual payoffs and group performance. 
This talk is based on a recent work with Robin Vacus, that was published in PNAS 2024.