This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

An Economic Analysis of the Peter and Dilbert Principles

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Joao Ricardo Faria (School of Social Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

The paper discusses how the Peter and Dilbert Principles can occur and what are the consequences for a profit maximizing firm. A competence frontier is constructed as a linear combination of the maximum levels of technical and social skills that are difficult to measure and evaluate. The Peter Principle holds when managers are chosen from workers that are in the competence frontier and the Dilbert Principle when they are below the competence frontier. It is shown that the profitability under the Dilbert Principle is less than under the Peter Principle. The introduction of new technologies is one form to avoid the Dilbert Principle.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.business.uts.edu.au/finance/research/wpapers/wp101.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by School of Finance and Economics, University of Technology, Sydney in its series Working Paper Series with number 101.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: 01 Jan 2000
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:uts:wpaper:101

Contact details of provider:
Postal: PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
Phone: +61 2 9514 7777
Fax: +61 2 9514 7711
Web page: http://www.business.uts.edu.au/finance/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Duncan Ford).

Related research
Keywords: personnel management incentives managers

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executive Compensation
L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Lazear, Edward P, 1995. "A Jobs-Based Analysis of Labor Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 260-65, May.
  2. Demougin, Dominique & Siow, Aloysius, 1994. "Careers in Ongoing Hierarchies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1261-77, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Faria, Joao Ricardo, 1998. "The Economics of Witchcraft and the Big Eye Effect," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(4), pages 537-46.
  4. Burgess, Simon & Rees, Hedley, 1997. "Transient Jobs and Lifetime Jobs: Dualism in the British Labour Market," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 59(3), pages 309-28, August.
  5. Robert Gibbons, 1998. "Incentives in Organizations," NBER Working Papers 6695, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Gibbons, Robert, 1998. "Incentives in Organizations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 115-32, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Gary S. Murphy Becker & Kevin M., 1992. "The Division of Labor, Coordination Costs, and Knowledge," University of Chicago - George G. Stigler Center for Study of Economy and State 79, Chicago - Center for Study of Economy and State.
    Other versions:
  8. Hall, Robert E, 1982. "The Importance of Lifetime Jobs in the U.S. Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(4), pages 716-24, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Baker, George & Gibbs, Michael & Holmstrom, Bengt, 1994. "The Internal Economics of the Firm: Evidence from Personnel Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(4), pages 881-919, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Anke Kessler, 1998. "The Value of Ignorance," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(2), pages 339-354, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Milgrom, Paul R, 1988. "Employment Contracts, Influence Activities, and Efficient Organization Design," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(1), pages 42-60, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Faria, Joao Ricardo, 2000. "Supervision and effort in an intertemporal efficiency wage model: the role of the Solow condition," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 93-98, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Landers, Renee M & Rebitzer, James B & Taylor, Lowell J, 1996. "Rat Race Redux: Adverse Selection in the Determination of Work Hours in Law Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 329-48, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Alexander K. Koch & Julia Nafziger, 2007. "Job Assignments under Moral Hazard: The Peter Principle Revisited," IZA Discussion Papers 2973, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  2. Edward P. Lazear, 2001. "The Peter Principle: Promotions and Declining Productivity," NBER Working Papers 8094, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Lazear, Edward P., 2003. "The Peter Principle: A Theory of Decline," IZA Discussion Papers 759, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Theofanis Tsoulouhas & Charles Knoeber & Anup Agrawal, 2007. "Contests to become CEO: incentives, selection and handicaps," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 195-221, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? You can include your works in the database easily by uploading them on the Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA) if you do not have access to an institutional RePEc archive.

This page was last updated on 2008-9-21.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.