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Task Discretion, Labor Market Frictions and Entrepreneurship

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Abstract

Each job can be performed in several ways, which we call tasks An agent's performance at a task is informative about his productivity at different tasks. But tasks are not contractible: choosing tasks is the prerogative of management within firms, and of the agent if he is an entrepreneur. Firms will invest in the discovery of their workers' productivity at different tasks only if they cannot easily move to other firms. Therefore, labor-market frictions determine whether learning an agent's talent occur within firms, or whether an agent may become an entrepreneur to acquire task discretion.

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  • Canidio, Andrea, 2019. "Task Discretion, Labor Market Frictions and Entrepreneurship," CEPR Discussion Papers 13954, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13954
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    Cited by:

    1. Th'eo Durandard, 2023. "Dynamic delegation in promotion contests," Papers 2308.05668, arXiv.org.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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