Language and the Theory of the Firm
刻画了高效技术语言的特征，并研究其如何影响组织的范围与结构。语言用精确词描述常见事件、模糊词描述罕见事件；组织范围扩大虽能捕获更多协同效应，但需用通用语言而降低内部效率。经理可作为专业翻译实现跨单元协调。该理论解释了组织中信息集中化增强与层级集中化减弱并存的现象。
We characterize efficient technical languages and study their interaction with the scope and structure of organizations. Efficient languages use precise words for frequent events and vague words for unusual ones. A broader organizational scope allows for more synergies to be captured, but reduces within-unit efficiency, since it requires a more generic language. A manager working as specialized translator may also be used to achieve between-unit coordination while maintaining separate languages. Our theory reconciles two recent well-documented phenomena within organizations: the recent increase in information centralization and the reduction in hierarchical centralization.