Employees and Entrepreneurship

Co-ordination and Spontaneity in Non-Hierarchical Business Organizations

New Thinking in Political Economy series

Ivan Pongracic Jr., Associate Professor of Economics, William E. Hibbs/Ludwig von Mises Chair in Economics, Hillsdale College, US

Over the last few decades, there has been a great deal of management literature recommending the removal of firms’ hierarchies and the empowerment of employees. Ivan Pongracic, Jr. examines these themes through the lense of the economic theory of the firm. Balancing the tendency for management literature to overlook basic costs and trade-offs of decentralization, and the rigidity of economics that hinders an appreciation for the real world phenomenon of decentralization, this book arrives at a realistic middle ground between the two extremes. The dance between hierarchy and employee empowerment exists in even the most hierarchical firms, and this book explores this often overlooked dynamic.