This paper identifies and evaluates rationales for team participation the effects of composition on productivity using novel data from a garment plant that shifted individual piece rate to group production over three years. The adoption teams at improved worker by 14 percent average. Productivity improvement was greatest earliest diminished as more workers engaged in production, providing support view utilize collaborative skills, which are less valuable production. High‐productivity tended...

Although the prior literature has examined relationship between work schedule characteristics and worker mental health, establishing causal effect of is challenging because endogeneity issues. This paper investigates how various affect workers' health using employee surveys actual working hours recorded over seventeen months in a Japanese manufacturing company. Our sample includes 1334 white-collar workers 786 blue-collar observed from 2015 to 2016. major findings are as follows: long cause...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the world economy in various ways. In particular, drastic shift to telework dramatically changed how people work. Whether new style of working from home (WFH) will remain our society highly depends on its effects workers’ productivity. However, best knowledge, WFH productivity are still unclear. By leveraging unique surveys conducted at four manufacturing firms Japan, we assess within-company differences between those who work and...

I develop a model in which different technological conditions lead to distinct equilibria with patterns labor mobility, promotion, earning distribution, and provision of firm‐sponsored training. Key is the asymmetric learning workers' characteristics. Because information that conveyed market by firms have incentives adopt strategic promotion policies, result use internal market. The theory explains well differences between Japanese United States markets.

The theoretical literature on managing R&D pipelines is largely based real option theory making decisions about undertaking, continuing, or terminating projects. typically assumes that each project causally related set of projects independent. However, casual observation suggests firms expend much effort and balancing their pipelines, where appears to be the choice selection thresholds, risk, whether buy sell fill pipeline. Not only do these policies appear differ across firms, they also...

ABSTRACT Modern workplaces extensively use teams of white‐collar knowledge workers to complete complex projects. Data on architects designing construction projects in a Japanese firm reveal that five‐person team's highest contributor invests over 60% the working hours. Following financial crisis 2008, average team productivity increased by 8.9%, while hours became more concentrated within teams. A theoretical model is used explain changes. The counterfactual exercise finds 40.3% increase...

Teams have become a mainstay for the organization of work. Economic models teams focus on productivity declines due to free-riding and mechanisms avoid it. Unfortunately, few empirical studies systematically examined impact output. Furthermore, literature does not consider potential effect worker heterogeneity or selection for, participation in, teams. In this paper we identify implications five behavioral responses (free-riding being one) adoption team incentives with heterogeneous workers....

This paper theoretically and empirically examines the conventional wisdom in procurement management that often portrays supply inspections supplier plant as substitutes. We develop a theoretical model focuses on potential internal spillover costs of buyer receiving low-quality inputs external should go undetected. Key to our analysis is condition whether can commit intensity inspection. If cannot commit, are substitutes, widely believed. The two types inspections, however, may become...

We combine class performance data from an undergraduate management course with students' personal records to examine how group diversity affects work and individual learning. Students are exogenously assigned groups. find that, on average, male-dominant groups performed worse in their learned less (based grades individually taken exams). This gender effect is highly significant learning outcomes providing evidence that influential the level nature of knowledge transfers within The results...

The popular press often touts workforce demographic (e.g., ethnicity and age) diversity as profit enhancing. Diversity may reduce the firm's communication costs with particular segments of customers or yield greater team problem solving abilities. On other hand, also raise in teams thereby retarding problem-solving diminishing productivity. Unfortunately, effect on productivity has not been studied formally there is little empirical evidence concerning impact ability enhances if significant...

An important yet under-explored question in the teamwork literature concerns how group characteristics affect productivity.Within a given setting, it is not obvious member diversity affects performance of individual and group.The may gain from knowledge transfer sharing while be crippled by communication coordination problems that are prevalent heterogeneous groups.In this study, we combine class data an undergraduate management with students' personal records to explore spillover effects.A...

Since 2016, the Japanese government has promoted reform of work styles to reduce working hours, facilitate flexible arrangements, and ensure fair treatment nonregular workers while improving productivity. Policies such as that leave time place worker's autonomy efforts enhance efficiency through use IT have rapidly penetrated both large companies medium-sized since 2016. We an original retrospective survey 847 firms combined with financial data from 2009 2019 examine how Japan's style...

This paper presents a novel model of promotion within the firm which sheds new light on interplay between working hours and odds subsequent promotion. The model's key feature is coexistence two different sources asymmetric information: (i) worker's cost long hours: (ii) OJT ability (the to accumulate valuable human capital job through learning by doing). known only worker, while accurately assessed observing him/her job. Long signal commitment firm, determines surplus produced when worker...

There is often said to be a tension between the two types of organizational learning activities, exploration and exploitation. The argument goes that activities are substitutes, competing for scarce resources when firms need different capabilities management policies. We present another explanation, attributing dynamic interactions among search, knowledge sharing, evaluation alignment within organizations. Our results show successful organizations tend bifurcate into types: those always...

Based on a randomized controlled trial applied to employees of manufacturing company, this study examines the extent which corporate sleep program improves workers' health and productivity. In three-month improvement program, applicants were randomly divided into treatment group control group, was provided with noncontact sensing device visualize their sleep. A smartphone app linked notified them data every morning presented advice behavioral changes improve weekly basis. The results...

Journal Article The Impact of Group Contract and Governance Structure on Performance—Evidence from College Classrooms Get access Zeynep K. Hansen, Hansen * Boise State University NBER *Email: zeynephansen@boisestate.edu Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Hideo Owan, Owan Tokyo Jie Pan, Pan Loyola Maryland Shinya Sugawara Law, Economics, Organization, Volume 30, Issue 3, August 2014, Pages 463–492, https://doi.org/10.1093/jleo/ewt007 Published: 23 July 2013