Decentralization, Duplication, and Delay
Abstract
We argue that although decentralization has advantages in finding low-cost solutions, these advantages are accompanied by coordination problems, which lead to delay or duplication of effort or both. Consequently, decentralization is desirable when there is little urgency or a great deal of private information, but it is strictly undesirable in urgent problems when private information is less important. We also examine the effect of large numbers and find that coordination problems disappear in the limit if distributions are common knowledge.
View research
Download PDF
Citation
Bolton, Patrick, and Joseph Farrell. "Decentralization, Duplication, and Delay." Journal of Political Economy 98, no. 4 (August 1990): 803-26.
Each author name for a Columbia Business School faculty member is linked to a faculty research page, which lists additional publications by that faculty member.
Each topic is linked to an index of publications on that topic.