Is Specialization Desirable In Committee Decision Making?

Committee decision making is examined in this paper focusing on the role assigned to the committee members. In particular, the authors are concerned about the comparison between committee performance under specialization and non-specialization of the decision makers. Collective decisions are best made by having many people involved in the process of decision-making. Typically, large groups of people (committees) can make better decisions than a single person. Thus, in private economic organizations, investment decisions are often made collectively in committees and, in the public sector, project proposals (e.g. building a new toll road) are often evaluated by teams of experts.