Selection of Leaders and Dimensions of Leadership Quality: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia

Open online seminar with Goytom Abraha Kahsay, Department of Food and Resource Economics.

Abstract from the presented study:

We investigate the impact of three different modalities to select group leaders of so-called forest user groups, charged with the responsibility to (sustainably) manage a stretch of forest, on dimensions of leadership quality using Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).

The three leader selection modalities include (i) business-as-usual leadership selection in which the group leaders (chairperson and additional executive members) are selected through ‘show of hands’, i.e., group members raise their hand to show their vote; (ii) anonymized voting in which group leaders are selected using anonymous ballot voting; and (iii) gender quota in which at least 3 of the group leaders are women.

The dimensions of leadership quality include capability, trustworthiness, corruption and connectivity (external network), which are measured using survey, lab-in-the-field experiment and structured activities.

Preliminary results suggest that: (i) both anonymized voting and gender quota treatments result in more capable and less corrupt leaders as compared to the business-as-usual leader selection; (ii) leaders in the gender quota are less trustworthy than leaders in the business-as-usual case although they have higher external network; and (iii) leaders in the anonymized voting are more trustworthy than leaders in the business-as-usual leader selection although they have lower external network.

How to participate

The seminar is open to all.
The seminar will take place online via Zoom