Cracking the Deck: National origins and promotions in the Dutch East India Company, 1700–1796
利用荷兰东印度公司的历史数据，研究领导力培训和团队激励如何缩小荷兰人与非荷兰人之间的晋升差距，并发现政策撤销后效果消失。
Organizational scholars highlight various challenges in reducing inequality within organizations. Due to unanticipated consequences, many programs launched by organizations fail to accomplish this goal. We leverage historical data from the Dutch East India Company to claim that training programs may be an effective tool against inequality when coupled with teamwork incentives and included in broader programs for change. We study the effects of these programs on the unequal promotion rates between Dutchmen and non-Dutchmen across periods of time in which those programs were offered and in which they were not. Our analyses of promotions to top-ranked positions on the Company’s ships suggest a two-fold conclusion: first, the introduction of leadership training and teamwork incentives reduced the differential weights given to the experience of Dutchmen and non-Dutchmen; and, second, those benefits disappeared when the policies were rescinded. The results underscore the opportunities and difficulties that organizations face in implementing durable interventions against inequality.