The aggregation of preferences in groups: Identity, responsibility, and polarization

In this paper, we use laboratory experiments to investigate how group identity and team decision-making processes might impact economic decisions. Our primary aim is to move the literature closer to an integrated model of group decision making through the use of an experimental design that carefully examines group identity and team decision making in isolation and in combination. We find that both the direction and magnitude of the group deviation relative to individual decisions depends critically on group communication and decision-making structure. In total, results are best explained by the concept of responsibility-alleviation.