Leaders in Social Movements: Evidence from Unions in Myanmar
研究了缅甸工会领导者的选拔特征及其在共识构建和动员中的作用，发现领导者能力更强但工资更低，能通过协调促进集体行动。
Social movements are catalysts for crucial institutional changes. To succeed, they must coordinate members’ views (consensus building) and actions (mobilization). We study union leaders within Myanmar’s burgeoning labor movement. Union leaders are positively selected on both ability and personality traits that enable them to influence others, yet they earn lower wages. In group discussions about workers’ views on an upcoming national minimum wage negotiation, randomly embedded leaders build consensus around the union’s preferred policy. In an experiment that mimics individual decision-making in a collective action setup, leaders increase mobilization through coordination.