Divide and conquer: the engineering of delegation

Simona Settepanella (), Gennaro Amendola (), Luigi Marengo () and Connor Minto ()
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Simona Settepanella: Torino University
Gennaro Amendola: eCampus University
Luigi Marengo: LUISS University
Connor Minto: Hokkaido University

Computational Management Science, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, No 3, 605-626

Abstract: Abstract Members of an organization have conflicting preferences. Principal-agent theory analyzes how and under which conditions this conflict can be resolved by means of incentives. In this paper we discuss an alternative to incentives: the engineering of delegation. The principal can divide the organizational decision making problem into subproblems and appropriately delegate different subproblems to different agents, letting them free to act according to their individual preferences. We introduce a formal model which analyzes whether and under which conditions the principal can in this way obtain the decisions she prefers without manipulating incentives nor using authority to overrule what agents autonomously decide.

Keywords: Delegation; Conflict; Complexity; Agency theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s10287-022-00428-w

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