WHY ARE JOBS DESIGNED THE WAY THEY ARE?*

In this paper we study job design. Do organizations standardize how the job is done ex ante, or ask workers to determine the process as they go? We first model this decision and predict complementarity between these job attributes: multitasking, discretion, human capital, and interdependence of tasks. We argue that characteristics of the firm and indus-try (e.g., product, technology, or organizational change) can explain observed patterns and trends in job design. We then use novel data on these job attributes to examine these issues. As predicted, job designs tend to be ‘coherent ’ across these attributes within the same job. Job designs also tend to follow similar patterns across jobs in the same firm, and especially in the same establishment. There is evidence that firms segregate differen