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Kieron Meagher

Australian National University, Australia

It is an honour to contribute to IZA World of Labor. This innovative project connects academic insights to both practitioners and policymakers. I also use IZA World of Labor to keep up-to-date with the latest research across a range of fields

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Professor of Economics, Australian National University, Australia

Research interest

Microeconomic theory, industry economics and industrial organization, applied economics

Website

https://rse.anu.edu.au/about/staff-directory/professor-kieron-meagher

Qualifications

PhD Economics, Australian National University

Selected publications

  • "Authority and communication in firms." Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 155 (2018): 315–348 (with H. Katayama and A. Wait).

  • "Doing more with less: productivity or starvation? The Intellectual Asset Health Check." Public Money and Management 37:1 (2017): 31–38 (with C. Boedker, R. Vidgen, J. Cogin and J. Mouritsen).

  • "Career concerns and team talent." Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 129 (2016): 1–17 (with S. Prasad).

  • "The politics of infrastructure investment: The role of product market competition." Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 119 (2015): 308–329 (with A. Ghosh).

  • "Delegation of decisions about change in organizations: The roles of competition, trade, uncertainty and scale." Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 30:4 (2014): 709–733.

article(s)

  • Trust in management in organizations

    Employee trust in their managers allows a firm to delegate decision-making, aiding both productivity and profitability

    Kieron MeagherAndrew Wait, April 2023
    It is not possible for a formal employment contract to detail everything an employee should do and when. Informal relationships, in particular trust, allow managers to arrange a business in a more productive way; high-trust firms are both more profitable and faster growing. For example, if they are trusted, managers can delegate decisions to employees with confidence that employees will believe the promised rewards. This is important because employees are often better informed than their bosses. Consequently, firms that rely solely on formal contracts will miss profitable opportunities.
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