Hierarchical Structure in Brazilian Industrial Firms: an Econometric Study

The paper investigates different implications of theoretical models for hierarchical structure. A sample of 6567 firms in the Brazilian manufacturing industry is considered and explanatory factors pertaining structural characteristics, network technology, technological innovations, managerial innovations and incentive mechanisms are investigated. Despite the broader availability of explanatory variables in some categories, one only detects important joint effects accruing from the group of network technology variables as had been previously obtained in the related literature. In contrast, however, one can detect a marginally significant joint effect of the newly considered group of incentive mechanisms variables. The evidence in terms of individual effects is largely consistent with the predicted effects from the theoretical literature on hierarchy.