An Experimental Study of Collective Deliberation

• DOI: 10.3982/ecta8852
• Publication Date: 2011-04-26T08:24:10Z
• Authors: Goeree, Jacob K.; Yariv, Leeat
• Keywords: deliberative voting; strategic voting; 330; 10007 Department of Economics; 0502 economics and business; 05 social sciences; 2002 Economics and Econometrics; Jury decision-making; 330 Economics

We study the effects of deliberation on collective decisions. In a series of experiments, we vary groups' preference distributions (between common and conflicting interests) and the institutions by which decisions are reached (simple majority, two-thirds majority, and unanimity). Without deliberation, different institutions generate significantly different outcomes, tracking the theoretical comparative statics. Deliberation, however, significantly diminishes institutional differences and uniformly improves efficiency. Furthermore, communication protocols exhibit an array of stable attributes: messages are public, consistently reveal private information, provide a good predictor for ultimate group choices, and follow particular (endogenous) sequencing.