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Turbulence, firm decentralization and growth in bad times

Philippe Aghion, Nicholas Bloom, Brian Lucking, Raffaella Sadun and John van Reenen

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: What is the optimal form of firm organization during “bad times”? Using two large micro datasets on firm decentralization from US administrative data and 10 OECD countries, we find that firms that delegated more power from the Central Headquarters to local plant managers prior to the Great Recession out-performed their centralized counterparts in sectors that were hardest hit by the subsequent crisis. We present a model where higher turbulence benefits decentralized firms because the value of local information and urgent action increases. Since turbulence rises in severe downturns,decentralized firms do relatively better. We show that the data support our model over alternative explanations such as recession-induced reduction in agency costs (due to managerial fears of bankruptcy) and changing coordination costs. Countries with more decentralized firms (like the US) weathered the 2008-09 Great Recession better: these organizational differences could account for about 16% of international differences in post-crisis GDP growth.

Keywords: decentralization; growth; turbulence; great recession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 60 pages
Date: 2017-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hrm and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/83613/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Turbulence, Firm Decentralization, and Growth in Bad Times (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Turbulence, firm decentralization and growth in bad times (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Turbulence, Firm Decentralization, and Growth in Bad Times (2021)
Working Paper: Turbulence, Firm Decentralization, and Growth in Bad Times (2021)
Working Paper: Turbulence, firm decentralization and growth in bad times (2017) Downloads
Working Paper: Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times (2017) Downloads
Working Paper: Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times (2017) Downloads
Working Paper: Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times (2017) Downloads
Working Paper: Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times (2017) Downloads
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