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Title: Black Sheep and Walls of Silence

Author(s): Gerd Muehlheusser and Andreas Roider

Publication Date: October 2005

Keyword(s): asymmetric information, misbehaviour, teams and wall of silence

Programme Area(s): Labour Economics

Abstract: In this paper we analyse the frequently observed phenomenon that (i) some members of a team ('black sheep') exhibit behaviour disliked by other (honest) team members, who (ii) nevertheless refrain from reporting such misbehaviour to the authorities (they set up a 'wall of silence'). Much cited examples include hospitals and police departments. In this paper, these features arise in equilibrium. An important ingredient of our model are benefits that agents receive when cooperating with each other in a team. Our results suggest that teams in which the importance of these benefits varies across team members are especially prone to the above mentioned phenomenon.

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Bibliographic Reference

Muehlheusser, G and Roider, A. 2005. 'Black Sheep and Walls of Silence'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=5308