The dark side of the vote: Biased voters, social information, and information aggregation through majority voting
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review
We experimentally investigate information aggregation through majority voting when voters are biased. In such situations, majority voting can have a “dark side,” that is, result in groups making choices inferior to those made by individuals acting alone. In line with theoretical predictions, information on the popularity of policy choices is beneficial when a minority of voters is biased, but harmful when a majority is biased. In theory, information on the success of policy choices elsewhere de-biases voters and alleviates the inefficiency. However, in the experiment, providing social information on success is ineffective and does not sufficiently de-bias voters.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Games and Economic Behavior |
Volume | 113 |
Pages (from-to) | 461-481 |
ISSN | 0899-8256 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2019 |
- Cognitive biases, Information aggregation, Social information, Voting, Wisdom of crowds
Research areas
ID: 210060316