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Employee Types and Endogenous Organizational Design

Author

Listed:
  • Antoni Cunyat

    (University of Valencia)

  • Randolph Sloof

    (University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

This discussion paper resulted in an article in the 'Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization' (2011). Volume 80, issue 3, pages 553-573. When managers are sufficiently guided by social preferences, incentive provision through an organizational mode based on informal implicit contracts may provide a cost-effective alternative to a more formal mode based on explicit contracts and monitoring. This paper reports the results from a laboratory experiment designed to test whether organizations make full effective use of the available preference types within their work force when drafting their organizational design. Our main finding is that they do not do so; although the importance of social preferences is recognized by those choosing the organizational mode, the significant impact managers' preferences have on the behavior of workers in the organization seems to be overlooked.

Suggested Citation

  • Antoni Cunyat & Randolph Sloof, 2008. "Employee Types and Endogenous Organizational Design," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 08-019/1, Tinbergen Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20080019
    as

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    File URL: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/08019.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Organizational design; social preference types; experiments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General

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