Skip to main content Skip to secondary navigation
Publication

The new empirical economics of management

Over the last decade the World Management Survey (WMS) has collected firmlevel management practices data across multiple sectors and countries. We developed the survey to try to explain the large and persistent TFP differences across firms and countries. This review paper discusses what has been learned empirically and theoretically from the WMS and other recent work on management practices. Our preliminary results suggest that about a quarter of cross-country and within-country TFP gaps can be accounted for by management practices. Management seems to matter both qualitatively and quantitatively. Competition, governance, human capital and informational frictions help account for the variation in management.

Author(s)
Nicholas Bloom
Renata Lemos
Raffaella Sadun
Daniela Scur
John Van Reenen
Publication Date
April, 2014