Cooperation Enforcement
Shared infrastructure creates cooperation opportunities, but cooperation persists only when networks enforce reciprocity through sanctioning and partner choice.
The difference between 400 million years of mycorrhizal cooperation and Enron collapsing in months: enforcement mechanisms.
Cooperation isn't natural - it's enforced. Without sanctioning (cutting off cheaters) and partner choice (rewarding reliable partners), cooperation collapses. Mycorrhizal networks maintain cooperation through: sanctioning (plants reduce carbon supply to underperforming fungi; fungi reduce nutrient supply to underperforming plants), partner choice (both preferentially allocate resources to reliable partners), spatial structure (limited network extent creates local interaction groups where cheating is detectable), and genetic diversity (multiple species prevent single cheater dominance).
Plant cheaters exist (non-photosynthetic plants like Indian pipe tap networks without contributing carbon) but remain rare (<1% of species) because cheating is punished and viable only when rare.
Business Application of Cooperation Enforcement
Shared infrastructure creates cooperation opportunities, but cooperation persists only when networks enforce reciprocity through sanctioning and partner choice. Networks without enforcement (like Enron) collapse; networks with enforcement (like Linux's GPL licensing, Nord Pool's market rules) persist for decades.