Abschlussbericht für DFG-Sachbeihilfe - Economic Decision-Making in Groups: An Experimental Analysis of the Effect of Group Size and Gender Composition

The main aim of the project was to contribute to a better understanding of group decisions. In a series of randomized experiments, we study the effects of important group characteristics such as group size, group gender composition, and other potential determinants of group behavior. Due to the frictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the initial project plan had to be adapted. Developing the video chat tool chaTree necessary to allow for face-to-face communication in online experiments took considerable time, which lead us to focus on the domains of unethical behavior and solving complex tasks as fields of application. Our results also have interesting implications outside academia, in particular for the design of work teams and committees. For example, a diffusion of responsibility seems to be a highly relevant phenomenon in the context of unethical decisions. Moreover, larger groups behave more unethically than smaller ones, and all-male groups seem to be particularly prone to unethical behavior and should hence be avoided. Moreover, we also find that group diversity seems to enhance group performance, particularly in smaller groups. The experiments were originally planned to be conducted in the lab, allowing group members to interact and communicate with each other. However, this was made impossible by the pandemic, which hit shortly after the project started. This forced us to resort to online experiments. Thereby, we were facing the challenge that at that point, in online experiments there was no possibility of having face-to-face communication in groups, and the only feasible mode of communication was the exchange of (written) chat messages. For the purpose of our project, this was not satisfactory. As a response, one (unforeseen) methodological contribution of the project was the development of the tool chaTree. We are convinced that it will also be helpful to other researchers.