Review of Economics and Statistics · 2024 · Louise Guillouët、Amit Kumar Khandelwal、Rocco Macchiavello、Madhav Malhotra、Matthieu Teachout
中文摘要
我们研究跨国公司内部的沟通摩擦，假设语言壁垒会减少组织内部的管理知识转移。此类跨国公司的显著特征是三级科层结构：外籍经理监管本土经理，本土经理监管生产工人。基于我们研究背景——缅甸的跨国公司——的专门调查表明，语言壁垒阻碍了外籍经理与本土经理之间的互动。第一个实验方案为本土经理提供免费英语课程，并证实降低沟通成本增加了他们与外籍经理的互动。第二个实验方案要求本土企业的人力资源经理对假设性简历进行评分，揭示了跨国工作经验，特别是本土经理与外籍经理的互动，在本土劳动力市场中具有价值。综合来看，这些结果表明降低语言壁垒可以改善管理知识的转移，这一解释得到了第一个实验中处理组本土经理软技能改善的支持。一个假定跨国公司内部沟通不可缔约的模型——这是职场生活的一个现实特征——表明实验结果与语言培训投资不足相一致，并为政策干预提供了依据。
Abstract
Abstract We study communication frictions within multinationals (MNCs), hypothesizing that language barriers reduce management knowledge transfers within the organization. A distinct feature of such MNCs is a three-tier hierarchy: foreign managers (FMs) supervise domestic managers (DMs) who supervise production workers. Tailored surveys from our setting—MNCs in Myanmar—reveal that language barriers impede interactions between FMs and DMs. A first experimental protocol offers DMs free English courses and confirms that lowering communications costs increases their interactions with FMs. A second experimental protocol that asks human-resource managers at domestic firms to rate hypothetical resumes reveals that multinational experience and, specifically, DM-FM interactions are valued in the domestic labor market. Together, these results suggest that reducing language barriers can improve transfers of management knowledge, an interpretation supported by improvements in soft skills among treatment DMs in the first experiment. A model in which communication within MNCs is noncontractible—a realistic feature of workplace life—reveals that the experimental results are consistent with underinvestment in language training and provide a rationale for policy intervention.