This paper presents a critical overview of some recent attempts at building formal models of organizations as information-processing and problem-solving entities. We distinguish between two classes of models according to the different objects of analysis. The first class includes models mainly...

Aufbauend auf der These einer zunehmenden Vermarktlichung von Beschäftigungsverhältnissen und des Endes der Organisationsgesellschaft von Davis (2009a, 2009b) untersuchen wir den Wandel der Industrienation Deutschland zur Dienstleistungs- und Wissensgesellschaft und fragen, ob mit diesem...

Empirically, compensation systems generate substantial effort despite weak monetary incentives. We consider reciprocal motivations as a source of incentives. We solve for the optimal contract in the basic principal-agent problem and show that reciprocal motivations and explicit performance-based...

An organization is a collection of agents that interact and produce some form of output. Formal organizations - such as corporations and governments - are typically constructed for an explicit purpose though this purpose needn’t be shared by all organizational members. An entrepreneur who...

In Chang and Harrington (2000a) a computational model of a multi-unit firm is developed in which unit managers continually search for better practices Search takes place over a rugged landscape defined over the space of unit practices There it is shown that a more centralized organization is...

Electronic linkages between organisations enabled by interorganisational information systems (IOS) such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Internet- based applications or cargo community systems are becoming increasingly important. Recently, many studies have examined the impact of electronic...

Effective monitoring requires proper incentives and detection skill. Detection skills depend on the extent of specialization in monitoring and on the number of agents to be supervised. This paper demonstrates that hierarchy and monitoring of monitors can provide the necessary incentives for the...

Based on a unique firm level data set of the German manufacturing sector, this paper provides new empirical evidence regarding the determinants of different types of environmental technological innovations. We examine particularly the effects of environmental organizational measures such as...

For the first time data of German ICT and knowledge intensive service providers are used to analyze the relation between the age structure of the workforce and the probability of adopting new technologies. The results show that firms with a higher share of younger employees are more likely to...

For the first time data of German ICT and knowledge intensive service providers are used to analyze the relation between the age structure of the workforce and the probability of adopting new technologies. The results show that firms with a higher share of younger employees are more likely to...