Leadership in Groups: A Monetary Policy Experiment

37 Pages Posted: 14 Sep 2007 Last revised: 5 Aug 2022

See all articles by Alan S. Blinder

Alan S. Blinder

Princeton University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

John Morgan

University of California, Berkeley - Economic Analysis & Policy Group

Date Written: September 2007

Abstract

In an earlier paper (Blinder and Morgan, 2005), we created an experimental apparatus in which Princeton University students acted as ersatz central bankers, making monetary policy decisions both as individuals and in groups. In this study, we manipulate the size and leadership structure of monetary policy decisionmaking. We find no evidence of superior performance by groups that have designated leaders. Groups without such leaders do as well as or better than groups with well-defined leaders. Furthermore, we find rather little difference between the performance of four-person and eight-person groups; the larger groups outperform the smaller groups by a very small margin. Finally, we successfully replicate our Princeton results, at least qualitatively: Groups perform better than individuals, and they do not require more "time" to do so.

Suggested Citation

Blinder, Alan S. and Morgan, John, Leadership in Groups: A Monetary Policy Experiment (September 2007). NBER Working Paper No. w13391, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1014339

Alan S. Blinder (Contact Author)

Princeton University - Department of Economics ( email )

Princeton, NJ 08544-1021
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

John Morgan

University of California, Berkeley - Economic Analysis & Policy Group ( email )

Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
510-642-2669 (Phone)
810-885-5959 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/rjmorgan/

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