As a first step towards understanding the evolution of small groups in firms, this paper develops and tests a simple decision-theoretical model of research-unit evolution in which, as managers resolve their uncertainty over time, they shut down under-performing units and remove under-performing...

"Much economic policy is deliberately shifted away from direct political processes to administrative processes - political pressure deflection. Pressure deflection poses a puzzle to standard political economy models which suggest that having policies to sell is valuable to politicians. The...