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Valerie Smeets

Aarhus University, Denmark

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Professor, Department of Economics and Business, Aarhus University

Research interest

Applied microeconomics, organizational economics, industrial organization, international trade, personnel economics

Website

http://www.valeriesmeets.com/

Past positions

Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Business, Aarhus University (2008–2016); Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain (2005–2007); Post Doctoral Researcher, Individual Marie Curie Fellowship, Center for Corporate Performance, Aarhus School of Business, Denmark (2003–2005)

Qualifications

PhD in Economics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 2004

Selected publications

  • “An empirical analysis of post-merger organizational integration.” Scandinavian Journal of Economics (Forthcoming) (with M. Gibbs and K. Lerulli).

  • “Estimating productivity with multi-product firms, pricing heterogeneity and the role of international trade.” Journal of International Economics 90 (2013): 237–244 (with F. Warzynski).

  • “Wage structure and research performance of US economics departments: Distinguishing incentives from sorting.” Revue d´Economie Politique 122 (2012): 565–584 (with T. Coupé and F. Warzynski).

  • “Does input quality drive measured differences in firm productivity.” International Economic Review 52:4 (2011): 961–989 (with J. Fox).

  • “Small open economy firms in international trade: Evidence from Danish transactions-level data.” Nationaløkonomisk Tidsskrift/Danish Economic Journal 147:2 (2009): 175–194 (with T. Eriksson and F. Warzynski).

article(s)

  • Can firms oversee more workers with fewer managers?

    Firms need to tailor their allocation of talent and responsibility, and their managerial structure, to fit their competitive situation

    Valerie Smeets, February 2017
    Managers are supervising more and more workers, and firms are getting flatter. However, not all firms have been keen on increasing the number of subordinates that their bosses manage (referred to as the “span of control” in human resource management), contending that there are limits to leveraging managerial ability. The diversity of firms’ organizational structure suggests that no universal rule can be applied. Identifying the factors behind the choice of firms’ internal organization is crucial and will help firms properly design their hierarchy and efficiently allocate scarce managerial resources within the organization.
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