The Power of Diversity over Large Solution Spaces

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: LiCalzi, Marco; Surucu, Oktay
• 署名单位: Universita Ca Foscari Venezia; Luiss Guido Carli University
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1110.1495
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 1408-1421
• 关键词: problem solving; bounded rationality; theory of teams; GROUPTHINK

摘要

We consider a team of agents with limited problem-solving ability facing a disjunctive task over a large solution space. We provide sufficient conditions for the following four statements. First, two heads are better than one: a team of two agents will solve the problem even if neither agent alone would be able to. Second, teaming up does not guarantee success: if the agents are not sufficiently creative, even a team of arbitrary size may fail to solve the problem. Third, defendit numerus: when the agent's problem-solving ability is adversely affected by the complexity of the solution space, the solution of the problem requires only a mild increase in the size of the team. Fourth, groupthink impairs the power of diversity: if agents' abilities are positively correlated, a larger team is necessary to solve the problem.