Embedded Files
Publications
Publications
The Aging Firm, with Sharique Hasan, Yoko Shibuya, and Maria Zhu
[Accepted at ROB]
Short summary: This conceptual piece offers a framework for understanding how firms shape the age composition of their workforce through a set of interrelated decisions. We propose that age structure is not merely an outcome of demographic forces, but is influenced by firms’ production needs, human capital capabilities, and responsiveness to external shifts such as technological change or policy reforms. By integrating insights across organizational theory, labor economics, and strategic human capital, we present a unifying perspective on how internal capabilities and external pressures jointly influence firms’ age-based workforce strategies. This framework lays the groundwork for future empirical research and theory development on workforce aging and firm adaptation.
Hunting for talent: Firm-driven Labor Market search in the United States, with Sharique Hasan and Rem Koning
2024 Strategic Management Journal, 45(3), 429–462
Short summary: We analyze the phenomenon of firm-driven labor market search, where firms increasingly "hunt'" for talent rather than relying on workers to apply to vacancies. We develop a model that incorporates firm-driven search and derive equilibrium conditions under which firms use this channel. We test our model's predictions using two data sources. Data from a nationally representative survey of 10,000 workers shows that the percentage hired through recruiting has increased from 4.9% in 1991, to 14.3% in 2022. We complement this analysis with data on the near universe of online job postings from 2010 to 2020. We find that firms, especially those with high-skill demand, have increased by 50% the search for recruiters with the ability to scour the internet for passive candidates.
Media: Barron's | Forbes | The Protocol | HBS Article | Fuqua LinkedIn Session (30-min video) | ExecU Podcast
Market Segment, Organization Form, and Technology Fit, with Victor Bennett and Todd Hall
2024 Strategy Science, 9 (1), 38–57
Short summary: Prior literature has proposed models of the displacement of incumbent firms by newer ones that adopt new technologies, however, we often observe industries where incumbents adopt new technologies less intensively than the entrants and not displaced. We propose one explanation built on the notion in strategy of the importance of fit between activity system components. We combine three existing models from strategy to show that our novel predictions are the result of questions of fit. We find patterns consistent with our predictions using rich employer-employee linked administrative data from Portugal.
Working Papers
Working Papers
Better Together? Top manager and Firm Performance
[Reject & Resubmit at Management Science]
Short summary: This paper analyzes the importance of the quality of the match between top manager and firm for organizational performance. I conceptualize the link between managers and firm performance as including both individual and match-specific quality components. I propose a method to separate individual from manager-firm match quality. By using separate portions of the managers' career to back out each component of quality, I am able to demonstrate that match-specific quality accounts for a significant portion of the manager's value.
The Illusion of Cyclicality in Entry Wages, with Ana Figueiredo
[Revise & Resubmit at AEJ: Macroeconomics]
Short summary: We document the fact that wage changes throughout the business cycle happen primarily for workers who switch occupations, rather than simply transitioning to a new firm, as previously asserted. We find that match-quality considerations drive occupational switches, and the higher the jump in match quality when one switches, the higher the resulting wage increase.
Gray Areas: Aging Firms, Strategic Hiring, and Tacit Knowledge, with Sharique Hasan, Yoko Shibuya, and Maria Zhu
Short summary: we examine how firms shape the age composition of their workforce through internal strategic choices, rather than solely reflecting demographic trends. We develop a theoretical framework linking firms’ reliance on abstract skills, uncertainty about young talent, and investment in early career development programs to patterns in workforce age structure. Using comprehensive data on U.S. white-collar firms, we find that those with greater reliance on abstract skills tend to employ older workers, while firms that invest in early career development are more likely to integrate younger employees and promote from within. These findings highlight the organizational drivers of workforce aging and contribute to research on human capital strategy and firm decision-making.
Network Hiring and Match Quality, with Sharique Hasan
Short summary: A large body of research shows that network hiring---the practice of hiring through referrals---yields candidates who perform better and stay longer with the firm. However, it is unclear what is the nature of the information that firms obtain through network hiring. In this paper, we show that network hiring provides information on match quality, and that this is particularly valuable for firms with knowledge-intensive occupations.
Work in progress
Work in progress
Occupation sorting, Internal Labor Markets, and Firm Wage Premium, with Ana Figueiredo
Universities, Corporations, and Scientific Production: The Dynamics of Labor Allocation, with Ashish Arora, Sharon Belenzon, and Hansen Zhang
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