Search by Committee

This result would seem to imply that the more members on a committee the lower the average search duration. It turns out that this does not immediately follow, and in fact, the average search duration may increase as the committee grows in size. Thus, we cannot simply compare thresholds to determine the average search duration. Nevertheless we prove the following results about search durations holding the plurality rule constant: 1. the average search duration may rise or fall in committee size and 2. the average search duration is declining in committee size once the committee gets over a certain threshold size. In addition to such comparative statics, we consider the effect on average welfare of committee size and the vote aggregation rule.