This paper develops a simple simulation model to study the relation between the nature of knowledge and the architecture of economic systems. The market and the firm are different mechanisms for coordinating economic activity in a system where knowledge is widely dispersed. While the market solves coordination problems by decentralizing decision-making, the firm solves coordination problems by centralizing knowledge. The market incurs the cost of finding potential exchange partners and agreeing on terms of trade, while the firm incurs the cost of centralizing dispersed knowledge. The market therefore has an advantage over the firm in coordinating activities in which knowledge is difficult to centralize. The nature of knowledge involved in an economic activity influences not only the choice of the institution through which it is coordinated but also the internal structure of the institution. More specifically, the more hierarchical the firm, the better it is at using changing knowledge, but the worse it is at using knowledge which is difficult to transfer from one individual to another. Therefore, the number of layers in the hierarchy of the firm is influenced by the rate at which knowledge changes relative to the difficulty associated with communicating it.

本文开发了一个简单的模拟模型来研究知识的本质与经济系统架构之间的关系。市场和企业是在知识广泛分散的系统中协调经济活动的不同机制。市场通过分散决策解决协调问题，而企业通过集中知识解决协调问题。市场承担寻找潜在交易伙伴和商定贸易条件的成本，而企业承担集中分散知识的成本。因此，在协调知识难以集中的活动方面，市场比公司更有优势。经济活动所涉及的知识的性质不仅影响对其进行协调的制度的选择，而且影响该制度的内部结构。更具体地说，公司的等级越高，它就越善于使用不断变化的知识，但在使用难以从一个人转移到另一个人的知识方面则越差。因此，公司层级中的层数受知识相对于与交流相关的困难的变化率的影响。