Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/265733 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15512
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We introduce "group cohesion" to study the economic relevance of social relationships in team production. We operationalize measurement of group cohesion, adapting the "oneness scale" from psychology. A series of experiments, including a pre-registered replication, reveals strong positive associations between group cohesion and performance assessed in weak-link coordination games, with high-cohesion groups being very likely to achieve superior equilibria. In exploratory analysis, we identify beliefs rather than social preferences as the primary mechanism through which factors proxied by group cohesion influence group performance. Our evidence provides proof-of-concept for group cohesion as a useful tool for economic research and practice.
Subjects: 
social relationships
group cohesion
oneness
coordination
weak-link game
experiments
real groups
JEL: 
C92
D91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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