On the Drawbacks of Large Committees
29 Pages Posted: 23 Apr 2012 Last revised: 24 Feb 2016
Date Written: February 1, 2016
Abstract
This paper aims at identifying possible drawbacks of large committees. I present a model of a committee of experts with career concerns where each expert may observe an argument about the state of the world but be unsure about the argument’s soundness. Experts may remain silent or decide to be the first to announce an argument. In contrast with the existing literature, I focus on the possibility that experts may discover duplicate information. I show that experts become more reluctant to speak in larger committees as a result. This effect can be sufficiently strong to make small groups of experts optimal.
Keywords: experts, committees, career concerns, verifiable information
JEL Classification: D71, D82
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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