ausblenden:
Schlagwörter:
Mehrheitsregel, Einstimmigkeitsregel, Laborexperiment, Gemeinwohl, Entscheidungskosten;
Majority Rule, Unanimity Rule, Laboratory Experiment, Common Good, Decision Costs
Zusammenfassung:
What impact do majority rule and unanimity rule create on welfare and decision costs? According to Buchanan and Tullock ([1962] 1999) the unanimity principle must be regarded as a democratic norm, because it guarantees Pareto-efficient welfare effects. We present experimental results from a public goods game, which demonstrate in contrast to this assumption that majority rule can produce larger welfare effects than unanimity rule. This result suggests a critical revision of theoretical approaches which narrow the legitimacy of majority rule in this respect.