Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP1825
Authors: Assar Lindbeck; Dennis J. Snower
Abstract: The paper examines the determinants of the division of labour 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 labour 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.
Keywords: division of labour; specialization; multitasking; organization of work; technological change; information flows
JEL Codes: J23; J24; L23; M12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| returns from multitasking (J22) | organization of work (L23) |
| task complementarities (D10) | organizational performance (L25) |
| increasing versatility of human capital (J24) | decline in division of labour (L23) |
| adoption of new technologies (O33) | intertask complementarities (F16) |
| intertask complementarities (F16) | reduction in division of labour (L23) |