Replication data for: The Flattening Firm and Product Market Competition: The Effect of Trade Liberalization on Corporate Hierarchies

This paper establishes a causal effect of product market competition on various characteristics of organizational design. Using a unique panel dataset on firm hierarchies of large US firms (1986-1999) and a quasi-natural experiment (trade liberalization), we find that competition leads firms to flatten their hierarchies: firms reduce the number of positions between the CEO and division managers, and firms increase the number of positions reporting directly to the CEO. The results illustrate how firms redesign their organizational structure through a set of complementary choices in response to changes in their environment. We discuss several possible interpretations of these changes. (JEL D23, F13, G34, M12, M51)

本文确立了产品市场竞争对组织设计多项特征的因果效应。本研究依托涵盖1986至1999年美国大型企业层级结构的独特面板数据集，并结合贸易自由化这一准自然实验，发现市场竞争会推动企业扁平化其层级结构：企业会削减首席执行官（Chief Executive Officer，CEO）与部门经理之间的管理岗位层级，并增加直接向首席执行官汇报的岗位数量。研究结果阐释了企业如何通过一系列互补性决策，针对外部环境变化重构其组织结构。本文还针对上述变化探讨了数种可能的解释路径。（JEL分类号：D23、F13、G34、M12、M51）