Econometrica: Sep, 1993, Volume 61, Issue 5

The Organization of Decentralized Information Processing

https://doi.org/0012-9682(199309)61:5<1109:TOODIP>2.0.CO;2-6
p. 1109-1146

Roy Radner

In a decision-theoretic model of a firm, I represent managers as information processors of limited capacity; efficiency is measured in terms of the number of processors and the delay between the receipt of information by the organization and the implementation of the decision. I characterize efficient networks for both one-shot and repeated regimes, as well as the corresponding "production function" relating the number of items processed to the number of processors and the delay. I sketch some applications to common decision paradigms, and implications for decentralization and organizational returns to scale.