Publications
Publications
- Forthcoming
- Review of Economic Studies
Managerial Quality and Productivity Dynamics
By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo
Abstract
Do productivity and managerial quality vary within the firm? If so which managerial traits and practices matter most for team productivity? Combining granular garment production data with survey data on managers across 120 production lines in India, we document substantial productivity dispersion both across teams producing overlapping products and within team over the course of production runs, and structurally link this variation to a comprehensive assessment of supervisor quality. We find that factors related to managerial attention and control are the most important for enabling line productivity, both more impactful than traditionally emphasized dimensions like cognitive skills and tenure. We document that one mechanism by which specific managerial practices contribute to productivity is by way of enabling faster learning-by-doing. In-sample pay patterns suggests potential net gains from screening for or training in less readily measured dimensions of managerial quality, as pass-through of productivity contributions to pay is incomplete.
Keywords
Productivity; Non-cognitive Skills; Learning By Doing; Ready-made Garments; Management; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Performance Productivity; Fashion Industry; Manufacturing Industry; India
Citation
Adhvaryu, Achyuta, Anant Nyshadham, and Jorge Tamayo. "Managerial Quality and Productivity Dynamics." Review of Economic Studies (forthcoming). (Pre-published online September 8, 2022.)