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Making the Invisible Hand Visible: Managers and the Allocation of Workers to Jobs

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  • Minni, Virginia

Abstract

Why do managers matter for firm performance? This paper provides evidence of the critical role of managers in matching workers to jobs within the firm using the universe of personnel records from a large multinational firm. The data covers 200,000 white-collar workers and 30,000 managers over 10 years in 100 countries. I identify good managers by their speed of promotion and leverage exogenous variation induced by the rotation of managers across teams. I find that good managers cause workers to reallocate within the firm through lateral and vertical transfers and generate large and persistent gains in workers' career progression and productivity. My results imply that the visible hands of managers match workers' specific skills to specialized jobs, leading to an improvement in the productivity of existing workers that outlasts the managers' time at the firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Minni, Virginia, 2026. "Making the Invisible Hand Visible: Managers and the Allocation of Workers to Jobs," CEPR Discussion Papers 21234, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21234
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    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Minni, Virginia & Nguyen, Kieutrang & Sarsons, Heather & Srebot, Carla, 2026. "Managers and the Cultural Transmission of Gender Norms," CEPR Discussion Papers 21201, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    3. Emma Duchini & Victor Lavy & Stephen Machin & Shqiponja Telhaj, 2025. "Personnel policy in public sector organizations: evidence from England's academy schools," CEP Discussion Papers dp2129, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Hayato KANAYAMA & Yuji KAWATA & Ritsu KITAGAWA, 2025. "Supervisor Accuracy in Subjective Evaluations and Employee Careers," Discussion papers 25098, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    5. Coraggio, Luca & Pagano, Marco & Scognamiglio, Annalisa & Tåg, Joacim, 2025. "JAQ of all trades: Job mismatch, firm productivity and managerial quality," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    6. Alexia Delfino & Miguel Espinosa, 2025. "Value Dissonance at Work," CESifo Working Paper Series 11690, CESifo.
    7. Cagatay Bircan & Guido Friebel & Tristan Stahl, 2025. "Gender Promotion Gaps in Knowledge Work: The Role of Task Assignment in Teams," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2518, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    8. Mariana Laverde & Elton Mykerezi & Aaron Sojourner & Aradhya Sood, 2023. "Gains from Reassignment: Evidence from A Two-Sided Teacher Market," Upjohn Working Papers 23-392, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    9. Mitchell Hoffman & Christopher T. Stanton, 2024. "People, Practices, and Productivity: A Review of New Advances in Personnel Economics," NBER Working Papers 32849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Diego Battiston & Jordi Blanes i Vidal & Tom Kirchmaier & Katalin Szemeredi, 2023. "Peer pressure and manager pressure in organisations," CEP Discussion Papers dp1924, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    11. Luca Coraggio & Monica Langella & Armando Miano & Marco Pagano & Marco Stenborg Petterson & Vincenzo Petone & Annalisa Scognamiglio, 2024. "Mismatch in the 21st Century:An Overview," CSEF Working Papers 745, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    12. Guido Friebel & Michael Raith, 2025. "Talent Management: the Role of Bosses," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2531, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics

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