Determinants of Decentralization within the Firm: Some Empirical Evidence from Spanish Small and Medium- Sized Enterprise

Jessica Pérez-Reynosa and Susana Iranzo Sancho

Working Papers from Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper examines empirically the determinants of decentralization of decision- making in the firm for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that tend to be highly centralized. By decentralization of decisions we mean the delegation of decision rights from the owner or manager to the plant supervisor or even to floor workers. Our findings show that the allocation of authority to basic workers or a team of workers depends on firm characteristics such as firm size, the use of internal networks or the number of workplaces, and workers characteristics, in particular, the composition of the laborforce in terms of education and seniority and whether or not workers receive pay incentives. External factors such as the intensity of competition and the firm s export intensity are also important determinants of the allocation of authority.

Keywords: Empreses petites i mitjanes; Empreses -- Presa de decisions; 33 - Economia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-cdm, nep-cse, nep-ent and nep-sbm
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:urv:wpaper:2072/211755

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