John Van Reenen, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, joins us to discuss the economics of management, productivity, and information technology.
Listen to this episode if you want to learn about how economists think about measuring management quality. We discuss the latest evidence the causal effects of “modern” management on productivity and worker satisfaction. We then move onto to the big picture questions regarding whether management explains cross-country differences in outcomes. Furthermore, we talk about interesting differences between how American and European firms have adopted to information technology and why this matters. We also touch upon how economics research has changed over time and whether the increasing access of managers to information will make the world a better place.
Books, Papers, and Courses Mentioned:
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- The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization by Nicholas Bloom, Luis Garicano, Raffaella Sadun, John Van Reenen
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- Americans Do IT Better by Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen
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- Inherited Control and Firm Performance by Francisco Perez-Gonzales
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- Management as a Technology by Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen
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- Does Management Matter? Evidence from India by Nicholas Bloom, Benn Eifert, Aprajit Mahajan, David McKenzie, John Roberts