Persuasion , Transparency , and Commitment

Organizations ranging from small groups to large societies routinely set up committees who lack formal authority but offer policy advice to those with ultimate authority (Shepsle and Weingast, 1987). Some examples of such committees include academic departments who make recommendations to a dean regarding hiring and promotion; advisory committees for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on applications for new drugs (FDA, 2015); the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that provides policy-relevant assessments on the science related to climate change (IPCC, 2015); the Federal Advisory Council that submits recommendations to the Federal Reserve Board (FAC, 2015); the Investor Advisory Committee that advises the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on various financial regulations and initiatives (IAC, 2015). There is a large body of practice and law relating to the membership and procedures such advisory groups must use—for example, many federal committees are regulated by the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972. One common requirement is that advisory committees be transparent, i.e., that the arguments and procedural ∗Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. †Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. E-mail: [email protected].