Sharing the Fame but Taking the Blame: When Declaring a Single Person Responsible Solves a Free Rider Problem

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Li, Xinyu; Schnedler, Wendelin
• 署名单位: University of Paderborn
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2024.06567
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: reputation free riding; collective punishment; formal and real responsibility

摘要

Teams are formed because input from different people is needed. Providing incentives to team members, however, can be difficult. According to received wisdom, declaring all members responsible fails because real responsibility for team output diffuses. But why? Also, why and when does formally declaring one member responsible mean that this member can be attributed real responsibility? We offer a model that answers these questions. We identify when jointly declaring a team responsible results in reputation free riding. We show that declaring one person responsible can overcome this problem but only if all other team members are protected from being sanctioned.