Experimental Economics Seminar - Moumita Roy, (George Mason University)

Title: First belong, then lead: An experimental analysis of the role of group identity in leadership effectiveness"  with Daniel Houser

Abstract: We report data on a social dilemma laboratory experiment to provide evidence of in-group bias in a leader-follower framework. We ?find that the presence of an in-group leader who advocates co-operation encourages the followers to co-operate in a social dilemma setting. However, the presence of an out-group leader has no such effects and therefore makes in-group leaders more effective than out-group leaders. Additionally, leaders also exhibit in-group bias towards followers. We conclude that group identity is an effective tool in promoting co-operation in groups only if the leader belongs to the same group as the followers.