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Learning about the nature of production from equilibrium assignment patterns

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  • Garicano, Luis
  • Hubbard, Thomas N.

Abstract

This paper exploits empirically a key insight from Lucas (1978) and Rosen (1982): that the organization of production and the distribution of earnings across individuals are jointly determined by the equilibrium assignment of individuals to firms and hierarchical positions. We study how different classes of production functions generate alternative equilibrium assignments. We then use confidential Census data on U.S. law offices to investigate the form that the production function should take to rationalize earnings patterns in legal services. We argue that earnings patterns in this industry are consistent with a production function that is characterized by asymmetric sensitivity to the skill of agents in different organizational positions, complementarity between managers’ and workers’ skill, and scale effects in individual skill.

Suggested Citation

  • Garicano, Luis & Hubbard, Thomas N., 2012. "Learning about the nature of production from equilibrium assignment patterns," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 136-153.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:84:y:2012:i:1:p:136-153
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2012.07.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Luis Garicano & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2015. "Knowledge-Based Hierarchies: Using Organizations to Understand the Economy," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 1-30, August.
    2. Luis Garicano & Thomas N. Hubbard, 2016. "The Returns to Knowledge Hierarchies," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 32(4), pages 653-684.
    3. Alex Edmans & Xavier Gabaix & Augustin Landier, 2007. "A Calibratable Model of Optimal CEO Incentives in Market Equilibrium," NBER Working Papers 13372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jose Joaquin Lopez & Jesica Torres, 2020. "Size-dependent policies, talent misallocation, and the return to skill," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 38, pages 59-93, October.
    5. Morten Olsen & Joshua Gottlieb & David Hemous & Jeffrey Clemens, 2017. "The Spill-over Effects of Top Income Inequality," 2017 Meeting Papers 332, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. Xavier Gabaix & Augustin Landier, 2008. "Why has CEO Pay Increased So Much?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(1), pages 49-100.
    7. Valerie Smeets, 2017. "Can firms oversee more workers with fewer managers?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 333-333, February.
    8. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman & Philipp Kircher, 2017. "Matching, Sorting, and the Distributional Effects of International Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(1), pages 224-264.

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