Toward A General Theory Of Hierarchy: Books, Bureaucrats, Basketball Tournaments, And The Administrative Structure Of The Nation-State<xref ref-type="fn" rid="fn1"><sup>1</sup></xref>
研究了各类机构中层级如何组织比较过程，涵盖信息处理中的数据比较和政策制定中的选项比较，适用于理解不同制度下的层级结构。
Information processing and policymaking, in any kind of institution, involve the making of comparisons. For information processing, the comparisons are among bits of data. For policymaking, the comparisons are among alternative options. Many of our institutions are hierarchies, and this essay examines, for a wide range of institutions, how hierarchies structure the making of the comparisons.