Context and Aggregation: An Experimental Study of Bias and Discrimination in Organizational Decisions

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Christensen, Michael; Dahl, Christian M.; Knudsen, Thorbjorn; Warglien, Massimo
• 署名单位: University of Southern Denmark; University of Southern Denmark; University of Southern Denmark; Frankfurt School Finance & Management; Universita Ca Foscari Venezia
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2021.1502
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 2163-2181
• 关键词: decision making; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; laboratory research; experimental designs; research design and methods

摘要

This paper addresses a notable gap at the intersection of organizational economics and organization science: how does organizational context influence aggregation of individual behavior in organizational decisions? Using basic centralized versus decentralized organizational structures as building blocks for our experimental design, we examine whether assignment of organizational positions, incentive schemes, and structural configuration induce endogenous adaptation in the form of change in reservation levels (bias) or modified discrimination capability in subjects' behavior. We found that evaluators adapted their reservation and discrimination levels in centralized structures, whereas they did not generally adapt their reservation and discrimination levels when placed in decentralized structures. We identify mechanisms that explain these findings; explain how they influence aggregate, organizational behavior; and discuss implications for research and practice.