ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING-CURVES - PERSISTENCE, TRANSFER AND TURNOVER

The paper provides an overview of recent developments in the area of o rganizational learning curves. The paper discusses whether knowledge a cquired through learning by doing is cumulative, as the classic learni ng-curve model implies, or whether organizational learning evidences ' forgetting' or depreciation. The extent to which the productivity gain s associated with learning by doing reside in individual workers, or i n the structure of the organization, or in its technology is also anal yzed. The paper concludes by reviewing evidence about whether learning transfers across organizations.