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Optimal supervision intensity, collusion, and the organization of work

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  • Mehmet Bac

Abstract

. The intensity of supervision, defined as the proportion of supervisors to bottom‐rank productive workers, differs widely across organizations and nations. Analysing three monitoring systems that differ in their supervision intensity, I show that the possibility of collective shirking arrangements can impose a system‐dependent limit on the range of implementable performances. This brings about a tradeoff in the choice of the monitoring system: the system that economizes on incentive costs may implement an inferior range of performances. Applications of the model generate work‐disutility‐, ethics‐ and job‐characteristics‐based explanations for variations in the intensity of supervision. L'intensité de supervision (définie par la proportion de superviseurs par rapport au nombre de travailleurs productifs de plus bas niveau) diffère vastement d'une organisation à l'autre et d'un pays à l'autre. On analyse trois systèmes de surveillance qui diffèrent par leur degré d'intensité de supervision, et on montre que la possibilité d'arrangements de resquille collective peut imposer des limites à l'éventail de performances réalisables. Voilà qui met de l'avant une relation d'équivalence dans le choix du système de surveillance: un système qui économise sur les coûts d'incitation peut mettre en place un éventail de performance relativement inférieur. Les applications du modèle suggèrent des explications fondées sur la désutilité du travail, l'éthique, et les caractéristiques du travail pour expliquer les variations dans l'intensité de supervision.

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  • Mehmet Bac, 2007. "Optimal supervision intensity, collusion, and the organization of work," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(1), pages 317-339, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:40:y:2007:i:1:p:317-339
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.00410.x
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