Theory predicts that committees of experts may take decisions that look good but are bad and that they show a united … assessments. We investigate this theory in the lab, using treatments with and without reputation concerns and with and without …

meetings of the committee. Does voting status change behavior? We find that the data go against the hypothesis that without the … voting right, presidents use their public speeches and their meeting interventions to compensate for the loss of formal … influence; rather, they support the hypothesis that the voting right makes presidents more involved. We also find that speeches …

of the project and about being considered well informed. Before voting on the project, members can exchange their private … those of the member casting the decisive vote. Our last result is that the optimal voting rule balances the quality of …