When mainstream economics does human resource management : a critique of personnel economics’ prescriptive ambition
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13133/2037-3643/17639Keywords:
labour economics, personnel economics, heterodox economics, discussion of HRM decisions, prescription, imperialismAbstract
Under the impetus of Edward Lazear, personnel economics has established itself as a particularly dynamic area of mainstream labour economics. It aspires to provide the best solutions to the practical problems that human resource managers encounter. The following paper aims to do the following: summarize the criticisms of personnel economics made from the perspective of heterodox economics, add a new criticism, and show how these criticisms, taken together, lead us to conclude that modes of labour management are legitimate subjects of debate, contrary to Lazear’s beliefs.
JEL codes: B52, D21, J01, M12, M54
References
Altmann S. and Zimmermann K. (2011), “Edward P. Lazear: A Founding Father of Personnel Economics”, in Altmann S. and Zimmermann K. (eds.), Inside The Firm. Contributions to Personnel Economics, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Aydinonat N.E. (2018), “The diversity of models as a means to better explanations in economics”, Journal of Economic Methodology, 25 (3), pp. 237-225.
Backhouse R. and Medemaz S. (2009), “Defining Economics: The Long Road to Acceptance of the Robbins Definition”, Economica, 76, pp. 805-820.
Bailly F. (2016), “The radical school and the economics of education”, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 38 (3), pp. 351-369.
Bazzoli L. and Dubrion B. (2020), “‘La’ science comme modalité de régulation des relations de travail? Éclairage à partir des débats entre taylorisme et institutionnalisme”, in Chassagnon V. and Dutraive V. (eds.), Économie politique institutionnaliste de l’entreprise: travail, démocratie et gouvernement (pp. 95-122), Paris: Classiques Garnier, Bibliothèque de l'économiste.
Becker G.S. (1964), Human Capital Theory, 2nd ed., New York: Columbia University Press.
Becker G.S. (1971), The Economics of Discrimination, 2nd ed., London and Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Boyer G. and Smith R. (2001), “The development of the neoclassical tradition in labor economics”, Industrial and Labor Relation Review, 54 (2), pp. 199-223.
Brunetta R. (1991), “Labour Economics: History and Theory”, Labour, 5 (1), pp. 75–100.
Camuffo A. (2002), “The changing Nature of Internal Labor Markets”, Journal of Management and Governance, 6, pp. 281-294.
Cho C., Jung J.H., Kwak B., Lee J. and Yoo Choong-Yuel (2017), “Professors on the Board: Do They Contribute to Society Outside the Classroom?”, Journal of Business Ethics, 141 (2), pp. 393-409.
Creedy J. and Whitfield K. (1992), “Opening the black box: economic analyses of internal labour markets”, Journal of Industrial Relations, 34 (3), pp. 455-471.
Daly A. and Hunter B. (2017), “Conversations with an eminent labour economist: Edward Lazear”, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 20 (2), pp. 113-124.
Dequech D. (2018), “Institutions in the economy and some institutions of mainstream economics: From the late 1970s to the 2008 financial and economic crisis”, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 41 (3), pp. 478-506.
Diamond A.M. Jr (2009), “Fixing ideas: how research is constrained by mandated formalism”, Journal of Economic Methodology, 16 (2), pp. 191-206.
Dilger A. (2011), “Personnel Economics: Strengths, Weaknesses and Its Place in Human Resource Management”, Socio-economic Studies, 22 (4), pp. 331-343.
DiMaggio P.J. and Powell W.W. (1983), “The iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields”, American Sociological Review, 48 (2), pp. 147-60.
Dundon T and Rafferty A. (2018), “The (potential) demise of HRM”, Human Resource Management Journal, 28 (3), pp. 337-391.
Dubrion B. (2015), “Quand les économistes s’intéressent à la GRH: jalons pour une analyse économique ‘néo-réaliste’ des pratiques de GRH alternative à la Personnel Economics”, Economie appliquée, 68 (1), pp. 33-63.
Dubrion B. (2019), “Économie et gestion des ressources humaines: plaidoyer pour un retour aux sources économiques institutionnalistes”, in Malo F.B., Thwaites J.D., Hallée Y. (eds.), L'humain, plus qu'une ressource au cœur de la gestion: perspectives de gestion des ressources humaines (pp. 377-392), Hermann: Presses de l’Université Laval.
Erickson C., Fiskn C., Milkman R., Mitchell D. and Wong K. (2002), “Justice for janitors in Los Angeles: Lessons from three rounds of negotiations”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 40 (3), pp. 543-567.
Favereau O. (2006), “Objets de gestion et objet de la théorie économique”, Revue Française de Gestion, 160,pp. 67-79.
Ferraro, F., Pfeffer, J., and Sutton, R. (2005). Prescriptions are not enough. Academy of Management Review, 30 (1), pp. 32-35.
Ferraro F., Pfeffer J. and Sutton R. (2009), “How and Why Theories Matter: A Comment on Felin and Foss”, Organization Science, 20 (3), pp. 669-675.
Fine B. (2002), “‘Economic imperialism’: a view from the periphery”, Review of Radical Political Economics, 34 (2), pp. 187-201.
Fleury J.-B. (2012), “Wandering through the Borderlands of the Social Sciences: Gary Becker's Economics of Discrimination”, History of Political Economy, 44 (1), pp. 1-40.
Fourcad M., Ollion E. and Algan Y. (2015), “The Superiority of Economists”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29 (1), pp. 89–114.
Friedman M. (1953), Essays in Positive Economics, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Fudge J. (2017), “The future of the standard employment relationship: Labour law, new institutional economics and old power resource theory” Journal of Industrial Relations, 59 (3), pp. 374-392.
Gahan P. and Harcourt T. (1998), “Labour Markets, Firms and Institutions: Labour Economics and Industrial Relations”, Journal of Industrial Relations, 40 (4), pp. 508-532.
Gallaway L. and Vedder R. (2003), “Ideas Versus Ideology: The Origins of Modern Labor Economics”, Journal of Labor Research, 24 (4), pp. 643-668.
Garibaldi P. (2006), Personnel economics in imperfect labour markets, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gautié J. (2009), “Institutional Labor Economics: from Survival to Revival? Comments on Paul Osterman”, Socio-Economic Review, 7 (4), pp. 714-719.
Ghoshal S. (2005), “Bad Management Theories Are Destroying Good Management Practices”, Academy of Management Learning and Education, 4 (1), pp. 75-91.
Green F. (1988), “Neoclassical and Marxian conceptions of production”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 12 (3), pp. 299-312.
Grimshaw D. and Rubery J. (2007), “Economics and HRM”, in Boxall P., Purcell J. and Wright P. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management (pp. 68-87), Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Gunderson M. (2001), “Economics of personnel and human resource management”, Human Resource Management Review, 11, pp. 431-452.
Hirschman D. and Popp Berman E. (2014), “Do Economists Make Policies?”, Socio-Economic Review, 12, pp. 779-811.
Hodgson G. (2004), “Opportunism is not the only reason why firms exist: why an explanatory emphasis on opportunism may mislead management strategy”, Industrial and Corporate Change, 13 (2), pp. 401-418.
Jo T.H. (2018), “A heterodox theory of the business enterprise”, in Jo T.H., Chester L. and D’Ippoliti C. (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Heterodox Economics: Theorizing, Analyzing, and Transforming Capitalism (pp. 199-212), Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
Jo T.H. (2019), “The institutionalist theory of the business enterprise: past, present, and future”, Journal of Economic Issues, 53(3), pp. 597-611.
Kaufman B.E. (1999), “Expanding the behavioral foundations of labor economics”, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 52 (3), pp. 361-392.
Kaufman B.E. (2020), “The real problem: The deadly combination of psychologisation, scientism, and normative promotionalism takes strategic human resource management down a 30‐year dead end”, Human Resource Management Journal, 30 (1), pp. 49-72.
Katzner D.W. (2003), “Why mathematics in economics?”, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 25 (4), pp. 561-574.
King J.E. (2013), “A case for pluralism in economics”, The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 24 (1), pp. 17-31.
Lazear E. (1979), “Why is there mandatory retirement?”, Journal of political economy, 87 (6), pp. 1261-1284.
Lazear E. (1993), “The New Economics of Personnel”, Labour, 7 (1), pp. 3-23.
Lazear E. (1995a), Personnel Economics, Cambridge (MA): MIT Press.
Lazear E. (1995b), “A Jobs Based Analysis of Labor Market”, American Economic Review, 85 (2), pp. 260-265.
Lazear E. (1998), Personnel Economics for Managers, Hoboken (NJ): Wiley & Sons.
Lazear E. (2000), “Economic Imperialism”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115 (1), pp. 99-146.
Lazear E. (2011), “What Is Personnel Economics?”, in Altmann S. and Zimmermann K. (eds.), Inside The Firm. Contributions to Personnel Economics (pp. 8-13), Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Lazear E. (2015), Gary Becker’s Impact on Economics and Policy, American Economic Review, 105 (5), pp. 80–84.
Lazear E. (2018), “Compensation and Incentives in the Workplace”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 32 (3), pp. 195-214.
Lazear E. and Gibbs M. (2009), Personnel Economics in Practice, 2nd ed., Hoboken (NJ): Wiley & Sons.
Lazear E. and Rosen S. (1981), “Rank-order tournaments as optimum labor contracts”, Journal of Political Economy, 89 (5), pp. 841-864.
Lazear E. and Shaw K. (2007), “Personnel Economics: The Economist's View of Human Resources”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21 (4), pp. 91-114.
Lee F.S. (1984), “The marginalist controversy and the demise of full cost pricing”, Journal of Economic Issues, 18 (4), pp. 1107-1132.
Meardi G. (2014), “The (claimed) growing irrelevance of employment relations”, Journal of Industrial Relations, 56 (4), pp. 594-605.
McNulty P. (1980), The Origins and Development of Labor Economics. A Chapter in the History of Social Thought, Cambridge (MA): MIT Press.
Mongin P. (2014), “La controverse sur l'entreprise (1940-1950) et la formation de l’‘Irréalisme Méthodologique’”, Economies et sociétés, série Histoire de la pensée économique, 51 (11-12), pp. 1805-1860.
Nicolaides P. (1988), “Limits to the expansion of neoclassical economics”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 12 (3), pp. 313-328.
Nienhueser W. (2017), “Socio-economic Research in Personnel versus Personnel Economics”, Forum for Social Economics, 46 (1), pp. 104-119.
Nik-Khah E. and Van Horn R. (2012), “Inland empire: economics imperialism as an imperative of Chicago neoliberalism”, Journal of Economic Methodology, 19 (3), pp. 259-282.
Nolan P. (2012), “Understanding the employment relationship: markets, hierarchies and power”, Industrial Relations Journal, 43 (4), pp. 359-369.
Okun A.M. (1980), “The invisible handshake and the inflationary process”, Challenge, 22 (6), pp. 5-12.
Osterman P. (2009), “The Contours of Institutional Labour Economics: Notes towards a Revised Discipline”, Socio-Economic Review, 7 (4), pp. 695-708.
Osterman P. (2011), “Institutional Labor Economics, the New Personnel Economics, and Internal Labor Markets: A Reconsideration”, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 64 (4), pp. 637-653.
Oyer P. (2016), “Introduction: Special Issue in Honor of JOLE Founder Edward P. Lazear”, Journal of Labor Economics, 34 (2), pp. S1-S2.
Pfeffer J. (2007), “Human Resources from an Organizational Behavior Perspective: Some Paradoxes Explained”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21 (4), pp. 115-134.
Prendergast C. (1999), “The provision of incentives in firms”, Journal of Economic Literature, 37 (1), pp. 7-63.
Rodrik D. (2018), “Second thoughts on economics rules”, Journal of Economic Methodology, 25 (3), pp. 276-281.
Rutherford M. (2001), “Institutional economics: then and now”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15 (3), pp. 173-194.
Simonazzi A. (2021), “Dignity of work and full employment”, PSL Quarterly Review, 74 (297), pp. 115-126.
Spencer D. (2009), The Political Economy of Work, London: Routledge.
Spencer D. (2011), “Getting Personnel: Contesting and Transcending the ‘New Labour Economics’”, Work, Employment, and Society, 25 (1), pp. 118-131.
Spencer D. (2013), “Barbarians at the Gate: A Critical Appraisal of the Influence of Economics on the Field and Practice of HRM”, Human Resource Management Journal, 23 (4), pp. 346–359.
Spencer D. (2020), “Economics and ‘bad’ management: the limits to performativity”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 44 (1), pp. 17-32.
Seltzer A. (2018), “Human Resources and Incentive Contracts”, in Blum M. and Colvin C. (eds.), An Economist’s Guide to Economic History (pp. 185-192), Cham (Switzerland): Palgrave Macmillan.
Stigler G. (1984), “The Imperial Science?”, The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 86 (3), pp. 301-313.
Theocarakis N. (2010), “Metamorphoses: The Concept of Labour In the History of Political Economy”, The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 20 (2), pp. 7-38.
Veldman J. and Willmott H. (2020), “Performativity and convergence in comparative corporate governance”, Competition and Change, 24 (5), pp. 408-428.
Wilson J.F. and Thomson A. (2006), “Management in historical perspective: stages and paradigms”, Competition and Change, 10 (4), pp. 357-374.
Yellen J. (1984), “Efficiency Wage Models of Unemployment”, American Economic Review, 74 (2), pp. 200-205.
Zlolniski C. (2003), “Labor control and resistance of Mexican immigrant janitors in Silicon Valley”, Human Organization, 62 (1), pp. 39-49.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Franck BAILLY
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.