The Value of Bosses

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Labor Economics
Year: 2015
Volume: 33
Issue: 4
Pages: 823 - 861

Authors (3)

Edward P. Lazear Kathryn L. Shaw (not in RePEc) Christopher T. Stanton (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

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, we estimate supervisor effects and find them 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 adding one worker to a nine-member team would. 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.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/681097
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25