Presentations: City St George's (University of London)*, 10th CSEF-IGIER Symposium on Economics and Institutions, Princeton University*, the NBER Organisational Economics Working Group Spring 2025*, King's College London*, Queen's University (Firms and Inclusive Growth Workshop), Imperial College London* (Upcoming), CEPR Symposium* (Upcoming). (* if by coauthor)
Abstract: We introduce a new method for measuring managerial traits of young professionals: using management vignettes in a video studio. This method -- analysed through the lens of a Bayesian hierarchical model -- allows us to identify four distinct managerial archetypes (which we term `authoritative', `affiliative', `coercive' and `timid'). We find that past labour market exposure (including exposure induced through a previous field experiment) correlates strongly with the propensity to act as an authoritative manager. We then use the videos to run an incentivised experiment with firm managers, to elicit preferences over young professionals. Strikingly, we find that firms consistently prefer authoritative-type managers for entry-level managerial positions. Empirically, our results highlight an underexplored mechanism for labour market exclusion among young professionals. Methodologically, we demonstrate the value of controlled vignette scenarios for assessing managerial traits. Our findings underscore the importance of managerial training in shaping labor market outcomes, and offer new avenues for studying the development of managerial talent.
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