Abstract: The paper examines the determinants of the division of labor within firms. It provides an explanation of the pervasive observed changes in work organization away from the traditional functional departments and toward 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. The paper also explores how the move towards multi-tasking can affect the labor market, and the distribution of firms across organizational forms.

Keywords: Division of labor; Specialization; Multi-tasking; Organization of work; Technological change; Information flows.

JEL-codes: J23; J24; L23; M12; O33

29 pages, February 1, 2000

Full text files

iuiwop0528.fig.pdf  Figures

iuiwop0528.fig.pdf.zip  Figures

iuiwop0528.app.pdf.zip  Appendix

iuiwop0528.app.pdf  Appendix

iuiwop0528.pdf.zip  Full text

iuiwop0528.pdf  Full text

iuiwop0528.ps.zip PostScript file Full text

iuiwop0528.ps PostScript file Full text

Download statistics

• Research Institute of Industrial Economics
• Ordering Working Papers
• Home page for this series

Questions (including download problems) about the papers in this series should be directed to Elisabeth Gustafsson ()
Report other problems with accessing this service to Sune Karlsson ().

RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0528This page generated on 2024-09-13 22:15:48.