Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/302682 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17165
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper develops a novel method to identify the causal contribution of managers to team performance. The method requires repeated random assignment of managers to multiple teams and controls for individuals' skills. A good manager is someone who consistently causes their team to produce more than the sum of their parts. Good managers have roughly twice the impact on team performance as good workers. People who nominate themselves to be in charge perform worse than managers appointed by lottery, in part because self-promoted managers are overconfident, especially about their social skills. Managerial performance is positively predicted by economic decision-making skill and fluid intelligence – but not gender, age, or ethnicity. Selecting managers on skills rather than demographics or preferences for leadership could substantially increase organizational productivity.
Subjects: 
teamwork
managers
skills
measurement
experiment
JEL: 
M54
J24
C90
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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