The importance of expertise in group decisions

Alexander Lundberg ()
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Alexander Lundberg: West Virginia University

Social Choice and Welfare, 2020, vol. 55, issue 3, No 6, 495-521

Abstract: Abstract Prior to a collective binary choice, members of a group receive binary signals correlated with the better option. A larger group size may produce less accurate decisions, but expertise is everywhere beneficial. If a group accounts for correlation in signals, a relatively expert member puts an upper bound on the probability of a false belief. The bound holds for any group size and signal distribution. Furthermore, a population investing in expertise is better off cultivating a small mass of elites than adopting an egalitarian policy of education.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s00355-020-01253-3

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