Leadership: Who Matters

33 Pages Posted: 21 Oct 2007

See all articles by Daniel Houser

Daniel Houser

Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science

David M. Levy

George Mason University

Kail Padgitt

George Mason University

Sandra J. Peart

University of Richmond - Jepson School of Leadership Studies

Erte Xiao

Monash University

Date Written: October 2007

Abstract

Previous research provides compelling evidence that human leaders are sufficient for efficiency-enhancing leadership effects on cooperation in groups, yet little is known regarding the contexts in which human leadership is necessary in this regard. For example, a simple explanation is that leaders provide a common signal to which group members naively respond. Because it is not necessary for a common signal to originate with a human leader, such an explanation could have critically different policy implications than are suggested by currently accepted accounts of a leader's value. We here report rigorous evidence on the extent to which leadership effects in a social dilemma require human leaders. We find that group members' decisions are significantly influenced by human leaders' non-binding contribution suggestions. On the other hand, those same suggestions do not impact group members' decisions when they do not originate with human leaders.

Keywords: leadership, cooperation, public goods experiment, social dilemma

JEL Classification: C71, C92, D63, D72, H41

Suggested Citation

Houser, Daniel and Levy, David Milton and Padgitt, Kail and Peart, Sandra J. and Xiao, Erte, Leadership: Who Matters (October 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1023026 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1023026

Daniel Houser (Contact Author)

Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science ( email )

5th Floor, Vernon Smith Hall
George Mason University
Arlington, VA 22201
United States
7039934856 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://mason.gmu.edu/~dhouser/

David Milton Levy

George Mason University ( email )

Carow Hall
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States
703-993-2319 (Phone)

Kail Padgitt

George Mason University ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

Sandra J. Peart

University of Richmond - Jepson School of Leadership Studies ( email )

Jepson Hall
Richmond, VA 23173
United States

Erte Xiao

Monash University ( email )

23 Innovation Walk
Wellington Road
Clayton, Victoria 3800
Australia

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
181
Abstract Views
1,536
Rank
332,092
PlumX Metrics