The Power of Proximity: A Conversation with Emma Harrington | Economics, Applied | Steven Davis | Hoover Institution

Steven Davis speaks with Emma Harrington about her recent study on the power of proximity in facilitating mentoring, employee feedback, and learning on the job. According to the study, software engineers give more written feedback to team members when working in the same building, as compared to working in nearby buildings or from home. Physical proximity has stronger effects on the feedback given and received by women, and it is especially important in facilitating feedback from senior to junior employees.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Emma Harrington is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Virginia and affiliate of JPAL-North America. She received her PhD in Economics from Harvard in 2021. She held a postdoc position in the Industrial Relations Section at Princeton University in 2021-2022 and was assistant professor at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business in 2022-23. Her research focuses on labor market issues, personnel economics, and law and economics.

Steven J. Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is an economic adviser to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.

RELATED RESOURCES:

• Emma's website
• “The Power of Proximity to Coworkers: Training for Tomorrow or Productivity Today?” by Natalia Emanuel, Emma Harrington and Amanda Palais