Who should cast the casting vote? Using sequential voting to amalgamate information

Steve Alpern and Bo Chen ()
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Steve Alpern: University of Warwick
Bo Chen: University of Warwick

Theory and Decision, 2017, vol. 83, issue 2, No 5, 259-282

Abstract: Abstract In this study, we are concerned with how agents can best amalgamate their private information about a binary state of Nature. The agents are heterogeneous in their “ability”, the quality of their private information. The agents cannot directly communicate their private information but instead can only vote between the two states (say “Innocent” or “Guilty” on a criminal jury). We first describe possible methods of sequential majority voting, and then we analyze a particular one: the first $$n-1$$ n - 1 jurors vote simultaneously and, in the case of a tie, the remaining juror has the casting vote. We prove that when $$n=3$$ n = 3 (a common situation for a tribunal of three judges), the probability of a correct verdict is maximized when the agent of median ability has the casting vote.

Keywords: Jury; Sequential voting; Casting vote; Group decision (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11238-017-9593-0

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