{"id":{"repo_id":"unsw","oai_identifier":"oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/32642"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/unsw/oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/32642","repository":{"repo_id":"unsw","name":"University of New South Wales","base_url":"https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/oai/provider"},"display":{"title":"The Firm Size Effect: An Application of Hierarchy Theories","abstract":"In this thesis the positive relationship between firm size and wages is investigated through the application of hierarchy theories. Many different explanations have been proposed for this relationship, but have met only limited success at best. The strongest finding to date is that unobserved ability is a significant factor. The question of interest here is why do wages increase as the size firm increases? Hierarchy theories take a different approach towards the analysis of firms in comparison to the alternate theories which have dominated previous investigations. As a result of their focus on the organisational relationships within a firm s internal structure, hierarchy theories offer certain insights to the size-wage relationship which to date have been unnoticed. An empirical investigation into the size-wage differential incorporating structural considerations into an augmented wage equation offers strong support for the propositions of hierarchy theories. I find that half of the firm size effect for workers can be explained by controlling for some aspects of management structure, and that span of control has a discontinuous effect on wages. These results are completely consistent with the existing findings on unobserved ability and have the added attraction of providing economic as well as statistical explanatory power.","abstract_html":"In this thesis the positive relationship between firm size and wages is investigated through the application of hierarchy theories. Many different explanations have been proposed for this relationship, but have met only limited success at best. The strongest finding to date is that unobserved ability is a significant factor. The question of interest here is why do wages increase as the size firm increases? Hierarchy theories take a different approach towards the analysis of firms in comparison to the alternate theories which have dominated previous investigations. As a result of their focus on the organisational relationships within a firm s internal structure, hierarchy theories offer certain insights to the size-wage relationship which to date have been unnoticed. An empirical investigation into the size-wage differential incorporating structural considerations into an augmented wage equation offers strong support for the propositions of hierarchy theories. I find that half of the firm size effect for workers can be explained by controlling for some aspects of management structure, and that span of control has a discontinuous effect on wages. These results are completely consistent with the existing findings on unobserved ability and have the added attraction of providing economic as well as statistical explanatory power.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wilson, Hugh David"],"institution":"UNSW, Sydney","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2000,"date_issued":"2000","date_published":"2000","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:33:31Z","subjects":["Firm Size","Firm Size effect","Hierarchy Theory","Wages","Unobserved ability"],"languages":["EN"],"rights":["open access","CC BY-NC-ND 3.0","free_to_read"],"rights_urls":["https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2","https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/17726"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/17726","href":"https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/17726","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/32642","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wilson, Hugh David"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2000"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["UNSW, Sydney"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["master thesis","http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_bdcc"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Firm Size","Firm Size effect","Hierarchy Theory","Wages","Unobserved ability"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["EN"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["open access","https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2","CC BY-NC-ND 3.0","https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/","free_to_read"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/32642","https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/8a5d4ded-c749-49d6-a47d-7706c08c9628/download","https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/17726"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["In this thesis the positive relationship between firm size and wages is investigated through the application of hierarchy theories. Many different explanations have been proposed for this relationship, but have met only limited success at best. The strongest finding to date is that unobserved ability is a significant factor. The question of interest here is why do wages increase as the size firm increases? Hierarchy theories take a different approach towards the analysis of firms in comparison to the alternate theories which have dominated previous investigations. As a result of their focus on the organisational relationships within a firm s internal structure, hierarchy theories offer certain insights to the size-wage relationship which to date have been unnoticed. An empirical investigation into the size-wage differential incorporating structural considerations into an augmented wage equation offers strong support for the propositions of hierarchy theories. I find that half of the firm size effect for workers can be explained by controlling for some aspects of management structure, and that span of control has a discontinuous effect on wages. These results are completely consistent with the existing findings on unobserved ability and have the added attraction of providing economic as well as statistical explanatory power."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Firm Size Effect: An Application of Hierarchy Theories"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Wilson, Hugh David"],"dc:date":["2000"],"dc:description":["In this thesis the positive relationship between firm size and wages is investigated through the application of hierarchy theories. Many different explanations have been proposed for this relationship, but have met only limited success at best. The strongest finding to date is that unobserved ability is a significant factor. The question of interest here is why do wages increase as the size firm increases? Hierarchy theories take a different approach towards the analysis of firms in comparison to the alternate theories which have dominated previous investigations. As a result of their focus on the organisational relationships within a firm s internal structure, hierarchy theories offer certain insights to the size-wage relationship which to date have been unnoticed. An empirical investigation into the size-wage differential incorporating structural considerations into an augmented wage equation offers strong support for the propositions of hierarchy theories. I find that half of the firm size effect for workers can be explained by controlling for some aspects of management structure, and that span of control has a discontinuous effect on wages. These results are completely consistent with the existing findings on unobserved ability and have the added attraction of providing economic as well as statistical explanatory power."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/32642","https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/8a5d4ded-c749-49d6-a47d-7706c08c9628/download","https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/17726"],"dc:language":["EN"],"dc:publisher":["UNSW, Sydney"],"dc:rights":["open access","https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2","CC BY-NC-ND 3.0","https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/","free_to_read"],"dc:subject":["Firm Size","Firm Size effect","Hierarchy Theory","Wages","Unobserved ability"],"dc:title":["The Firm Size Effect: An Application of Hierarchy Theories"],"dc:type":["master thesis","http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_bdcc"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:33:31Z"}