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STICERD Economic Theory Seminars

Fostering Collaboration

Elliot Lipnowski (Columbia University), joint with Aditya Kuvalekar and Joyee Deb

Thursday 13 June 2019 15:30 - 17:00

Many of our seminars and public events this year will continue as in person or as hybrid (online and in person) events. Please check our website listings and Twitter feed @STICERD_LSE for updates.

Unless otherwise specified, in-person seminars are open to the public. Please ensure you have informed the event contact as early as possible.

Those unable to join the seminars in-person are welcome to participate via zoom if the event is hybrid.


About this event

We study optimal project selection by a firm that must choose between different workers’ preferred projects. The firm faces a basic tradeoff between fostering collaboration among its employees and efficiently adapting its decisions to its circumstances. If the firm commits to choosing the project which is most profitable ex-post, it undermines its employees’ motive to collaborate, causing ex-ante inefficiency. We solve for the firm’s optimal policy. It entails an early phase of intense competition, followed by a permanent regime of collaboration. In service to ex-ante optimality, arbitrarily severe ex-post inefficiencies must be tolerated.

Economic Theory Seminars are held on Thursdays in term time at 15:30-17:00, both ONLINE and IN PERSON in SAL 3.05.

Seminar organisers: Dr Paula Ferreira Onuchic and Dr Christopher Sandmann.

For further information please contact Sadia Ali: s.ali43@lse.ac.uk.

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