The Division of Labor within Firms

CEPR Discussion Paper Series No. 1825

Posted: 17 Sep 1998

See all articles by Assar Lindbeck

Assar Lindbeck

; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

Dennis J. Snower

University of Kiel - Institute for World Economics (IfW); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Date Written: May 1998

Abstract

The paper examines the determinants of the division of labor within firms. It provides an explanation of the pervasive change in work organization away from the traditional functional departments and towards multi-tasking and job rotation. Whereas the existing literature on the division of labor within firms emphasizes the returns from specialization and the need for coordination of the work of different workers, the present analysis focuses on the returns from multi-tasking, which is shown to arise from informational and technological complementarities among tasks as well as from the exploitation of the versatility of human capital.

JEL Classification: J23, J24, L23, M12, O33

Suggested Citation

Lindbeck, Assar and Snower, Dennis J., The Division of Labor within Firms (May 1998). CEPR Discussion Paper Series No. 1825, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=106373

Assar Lindbeck (Contact Author)

( email )

Stockholm, SE-10691
Sweden
+46 8 163 078 (Phone)
+46 8 162 946 (Fax)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

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Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) ( email )

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Sweden

HOME PAGE: http://www.ifn.se/assarl

Dennis J. Snower

University of Kiel - Institute for World Economics (IfW) ( email )

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D-24118 Kiel
Germany
+49+431-8814-235 (Phone)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

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Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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