Working Paper: NBER ID: w18317
Authors: Edward P. Lazear; Kathryn L. Shaw; Christopher T. Stanton
Abstract: How and by how much do supervisors enhance worker productivity? Using a company-based data set on the productivity of technology-based services workers, supervisor effects are estimated and found to be large. Replacing a boss who is in the lower 10% of boss quality with one who is in the upper 10% of boss quality increases a team's total output by more than would adding one worker to a nine member team. Workers assigned to better bosses are less likely to leave the firm. A separate normalization implies that the average boss is about 1.75 times as productive as the average worker.
Keywords: supervisors; worker productivity; boss effects
JEL Codes: J01; J24; J3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Replacing a boss in the lower 10th percentile of boss quality (L15) | Increase in a team's total output equivalent to adding one worker to a nine-member team (C92) |
| Average boss productivity (D24) | Average worker productivity (J29) |
| Workers assigned to better bosses (M54) | Less likely to leave the firm (M51) |
| Boss's specific effect remains one year after a worker leaves that boss (J29) | Persistence of boss effects (C92) |
| Bosses in the lowest quality decile (L15) | More likely to exit compared to those in the top 90% (J26) |