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Sharing the Fame but Taking the Blame: When Declaring a Single Person Responsible Solves a Free Rider Problem

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  • Xinyu Li

    (Department of Integrated Environmental Policy Analysis, PBL, 2500 GH The Hague, Netherlands)

  • Wendelin Schnedler

    (Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Management Department, Paderborn University, 33098 Paderborn, Germany)

Abstract

Teams are formed because input from different people is needed. Providing incentives to team members, however, can be difficult. According to received wisdom, declaring all members responsible fails because real responsibility for team output “diffuses.” But why? Also, why and when does formally declaring one member “responsible” mean that this member can be attributed real responsibility? We offer a model that answers these questions. We identify when jointly declaring a team responsible results in reputation free riding. We show that declaring one person responsible can overcome this problem but only if all other team members are protected from being sanctioned.

Suggested Citation

  • Xinyu Li & Wendelin Schnedler, 2025. "Sharing the Fame but Taking the Blame: When Declaring a Single Person Responsible Solves a Free Rider Problem," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(10), pages 8252-8266, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:71:y:2025:i:10:p:8252-8266
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2024.06567
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