Managing diversity by creating team identity

This paper explores the extent to which team identity can deter shirking and free-riding behavior in a team production setting. Team identity is manufactured and identification is enhanced by a variety of means. Created team identity is chosen over existing team identity to ensure that all subjects recognize their own (and others’) team identity. Subjects then participate in a repeated-play public goods game, framed as a team production problem. Analysis of the experiments compares aggregate team decisions based on the strength of team identity.