Law Commons^™

The Rat Race As An Information-Forcing Device, Scott Baker, Stephen J. Choi, Mitu Gulati

Indiana Law Journal

In many job settings, there will be some promotion criteria that are less amenable to measurement than others. Often, what is difficult to measure is more important. For example, possessing "good judgment" under pressure may be a better predictor of success as a law firm partner than the ability to bill a vast amount of hours. The first puzzle that this essay explores is why, in some promotion settings, organizations appear to focus on less important, but measurable, criteria such as hours billed The answer lies in the relationship between the objectively measurable criteria, on the one hand, and the …