Raffaella Sadun
@raffasadun.bsky.social
6K followers 580 following 740 posts
Professor at Harvard Business School. Director of the NBER Organizational Economics working group. Co-Director of the Digital Reskilling Lab at HBS. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=541712
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Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
mjyang.bsky.social
Very happy to see this paper in (online) print. Together with Michael Christensen, @raffasadun.bsky.social , @nickbloom.bsky.social and Jan Rivkin, we interviewed hundreds of CEOs to measure how they make business strategy.

pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/...
How Do Chief Executive Officers Make Strategy? | Management Science
pubsonline.informs.org
Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
woessmann.bsky.social
📢Our CESifo Conference on Economics of Education is about to start!🤩

This will be so exciting!!!🥳

🔗https://www.ifo.de/en/cesifo/event/2025-09-05/cesifo-area-conference-economics-education-2025

@raffasadun.bsky.social @sandramcnally.bsky.social @christinafelfe.bsky.social @singhabhi.bsky.social
raffasadun.bsky.social
Deadline is approaching!

Send us your best work by September 1st 2025.
raffasadun.bsky.social
The call for papers for the next @nber.org Organizational Economics Working Group is up!

We will meet in Cambridge, MA on November 13 and 14 2025.

Please submit your paper by September 1st 2025 at:
conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...
Submission: Organizational Economics Working Group, Page 1 of 2 - MyNBER
conference.nber.org
raffasadun.bsky.social
The call for papers for the next @nber.org Organizational Economics Working Group is up!

We will meet in Cambridge, MA on November 13 and 14 2025.

Please submit your paper by September 1st 2025 at:
conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...
Submission: Organizational Economics Working Group, Page 1 of 2 - MyNBER
conference.nber.org
Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
aletondini.bsky.social
📢 Stiamo cercando 1 Research Associate per un'esperienza di lavoro pre-doc all'#EvaluationLab del #FondoRepubblicaDigitale.

👉 www.fondorepubblicadigitale.it/posizioni_ap...

cc: @raffasadun.bsky.social @barbarabiasi.com @francedrago.bsky.social
Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
peterbergman.bsky.social
Our work now published showing how better AI can improve both accuracy and diversity in hiring relative to supervised learning tools and status-quo human hiring.
reveconstudies.bsky.social
Li, @lindseyraymond.bsky.social & @peterbergman.bsky.social show that incorporating exploration into an interview screening algorithm improves demographic diversity & hiring efficiency, while traditional supervised learning-only tools improve hiring rates at the expense of minority applicants.

👇
raffasadun.bsky.social
In short: good management doesn’t just improve performance—it reshapes organizations.

With Rachel Schuh, John Hartley, @nickbloom.bsky.social and @johnvanreenen.bsky.social .

Full paper 👉 www.nber.org/papers/w33765

#economics #productivity #management #reallocation #research
raffasadun.bsky.social
Key takeaways:
— Well-managed firms buy, sell, open, and close more plants
— They pass on good practices to new and acquired units
— Banning M&A would lower GDP and management quality by ~15%
— About 20% of productivity gaps across countries are management-related
raffasadun.bsky.social
Just out: our new NBER working paper explores what happens when management is treated like a technology—something that spreads across firms, boosts productivity, and lowers the cost of change.
Management and Firm Dynamism
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
eeanews.bsky.social
📢@cepr.org WE_ARE & EEA #womenineconomics committee announce joint virtual session:
Speaker: @raffasadun.bsky.social
Topic: Navigating Large Teams & Interdisciplinary Boundaries
🗓️Mon, June 9 @ 17:15 CEST
ℹ️https://bit.ly/44YA1RA
@womeninecon.bsky.social @ukwen.bsky.social
@isweconomics.bsky.social
raffasadun.bsky.social
So what’s the takeaway?

If you want training to work, you need more than money or policy.
You need middle managers who believe in people—and are trusted in return.
raffasadun.bsky.social
Why? We built a simple model:
Workers only invest in training if they trust that promotions will follow. That trust is manager-specific.
A good manager makes incentives real.
raffasadun.bsky.social
nd it went beyond training.

Teams led by HT managers:
✅ Performed better
✅ Were promoted more
✅ Had less absenteeism—even during major organizational changes.
raffasadun.bsky.social
These “High-Training” (HT) managers didn’t get paid more for encouraging training. But they nudged, supported, and believed in their team’s growth.

When an HT manager arrived, participation jumped:

📊
raffasadun.bsky.social
That variation could be explained by one thing: who the middle manager was.

Managers who were people-focused, proactive, and cared about development boosted training take-up by 45–60% compared to others.
raffasadun.bsky.social
We studied 3 large Latin American firms—a car manufacturer, a retailer, and a fast-food chain. All three offered centrally designed, firm-specific training. Same incentives, same structure.
But participation varied dramatically across teams.
raffasadun.bsky.social
📣 New paper drop!
Why do some employees take up training and others don’t, even when the programs are the same?
Surprisingly, the answer isn’t HR policy—it’s middle managers.
🧵
Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
danielascur.bsky.social
Another excellent NBER Org meeting wrapped up, and it's available on YouTube!! www.nber.org/conferences/...

@raffasadun.bsky.social and @andreaprat.bsky.social nailing the program and discussants yet again. Love this group! Thanks to all and looking forward to seeing old friends and new faces soon
Organizational Economics Working Group, Spring 2025
www.nber.org
raffasadun.bsky.social
Looking forward to the next @nber.org Organizational Economics Working Group meeting on April 10/11, coorganized with @andreaprat.bsky.social. We have a great line-up of new research papers in Org Econ!

Program and livestream link:

www.nber.org/conferences/...
Organizational Economics Working Group, Spring 2025
www.nber.org
Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
soumitrashukla.bsky.social
Excited for the NBER ORG meeting this week! Thanks Raffaella Sadun & Andrea Prat for leading this forward-thinking group exploring fascinating topics, including AI and labor markets. Enjoyed discussing Anna’s paper on class gaps last fall—delighted to return!
Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
bengolub.bsky.social
If you'd like to teach about the new economics of supply networks and their fragility this spring (see thread below for an application), here's a short list of broadly accessible resources you might find useful.
bengolub.bsky.social
Look at the structure of modern supply networks.

Most of these sourcing relationships cross borders.

And most of these relationships operate on low margins. That means big tariffs will shut down a considerable number of them.

3/
Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
brendannyhan.bsky.social
"deep expertise combined with the social skills and self-awareness to know your own weaknesses is a winning combination in the AI-fueled labor market of the future" - cool new results AI's contribution to problem-solving forklightning.substack.com/p/ai-human-t...
Reposted by Raffaella Sadun
rohansandhu.bsky.social
[email protected], @raffasadun.bsky.social, et al study 776 P&G employees & find large effects of #AI on collaboration & expertise: individuals w/ AI match the performance of teams without AI, produce more balanced solutions, & report positive emotions on the job papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....