An abundance of statistics has shown gender disparity in hiring decisions. This paper shows that a previously unexplored factor, the decision-making process utilized by a hiring committee, plays a crucial role. Using a laboratory experiment, we find that gender disparity is eliminated when hiring decisions are made unanimously by a group. By comparison, we find that gender disparity is largest when decisions are made by a leader who volunteers. We do not find evidence of heterogeneity by gender as the results persist regardless of the number of women in the group or the leader’s gender. The experimental design allows us to rule out several possible mechanisms including differences in leadership characteristics and communication styles.

Climate change increasingly threatens human development, economic resilience and labour market stability. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed firms (2007–2021), this study quantifies the employment impacts of extreme temperatures. A one-standard-deviation increase in exposure reduces employment by 0.07 per cent, equivalent to an average loss of 0.0054 workers per firm and 4.36 jobs across the sample. Extreme heat has a stronger effect than cold, with temperature bin analysis showing an average loss of 0.191 workers per firm and 15.565 jobs overall. Mechanism analyses indicate that extreme temperatures heighten operational risks and financial constraints, reducing labour demand. Internal and external buffers are identified: higher wages mitigate employment losses, government subsidies provide external support, while robot adoption and supply chain concentration show limited moderating effects. Heterogeneity analyses reveal greater vulnerabilities in underdeveloped, resource-dependent and climate-sensitive regions. Results emphasize the need for climate-adaptive policies to protect employment amid rising environmental risks.

We conduct an economic experiment to examine the causal impact of social ties on the preference for competition. Participants decide whether to engage in a competition or not. Across four treatments, potential competitors vary based on their relationship with the decision-maker: whether they had a conversation with the decision-maker prior to the competition, whether they are expected to chat after the competition, or both, or neither. We find that the process of chatting increases social closeness. This increase in social closeness tends to reduce the preference for competition when participants are expected to meet again after the competition. However, it does not change the likelihood of opting for competition if there is no prospect of further interaction. Through this experiment, we thus uncover previously unknown implications of managerial practices, such as team-building exercises and remote work options, that influence the formation of social ties.

We conduct a field experiment on 427 Israeli soldiers who each rolled a six-sided die in private and reported the outcome. For every point reported, the soldier received an additional half-hour early release from the army base on Thursday afternoon. We find that the higher a soldier’s military entrance score, the more honest he is on average. We replicate this finding on a sample of 156 civilians paid in cash for their die reports. Furthermore, the civilian experiments reveal that two measures of cognitive ability predict honesty, whereas general self-report honesty questions and a consistency check among them are of no value. We provide a rationale for the relationship between cognitive ability and honesty and discuss its generalizability.

This article uses a competence-based approach to the firm in order to analyse the recent destabilisation of internal labour markets. We argue that increasing knowledge codification made possible by the diffusion of information and communication technologies has made competences less dependent upon individuals. Knowledge has been increasingly embodied in firms themselves, which has played an important role in lowering the relative cost of human resource management strategies based on external labour flexibility. As a consequence, recourse to external labour markets has developed, which may harm firms' innovative capabilities in the long run.

The Averly foundry in Saragossa is an enterprise belonging to the mechanical constructions branch. It opened in 1863 with eight workers, and by the end of the XlXth century it employed one hundred workers. This article tries to understand the labour policies developed by this family enterprise, as a function of its market outlook and its type of work organization, based on a division of jobs and tasks by qualifications. Looking at these policies, we consider this firm as an example of what is called «flexible specialization», with productions adapted to demands and customers' needs.