Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mathattack 4478 days ago
It may not sort itself out. There could be non-performance reasons why companies behave poorly. Managers could have incentives for bad behavior (they like going to strip clubs with customers, for example) that present principal-agent problems.

I once observed a Japanese subsidiary of an American firm. They gave women the same career opportunities as men. As a result, they could get highly competent women from top schools (who wouldn't want to be office ladies at traditional Japanese firms) even though they couldn't get as competent men. As a result, the women at the subsidiary substantially outperformed the men at every level.