Peer Influence in the Workplace: The Moderating Role of Task Structures Within Organizations

Peer influence is crucial in shaping work practices within organizations, yet the impact of formal organizational structures on this influence remains underexplored. We argue that task structures, which capture how tasks are allocated and configured within organizations, significantly affect peer interactions and influence. Specifically, we examine how two features of task structures—task variety and task similarity with peers—moderate peer influence in a highly consequential setting: physicians’ decisions to perform a birth via caesarean section (C-section) versus vaginal delivery. Using data on nearly 5 million births performed by more than 16,500 physicians across 915 hospitals in Brazil, we find that working alongside peers whose practice style (enduring preference) favors C-sections leads the focal physician to perform more C-sections, even after controlling for features of the mother and the pregnancy. This influence is significantly stronger for physicians with higher task variety and with higher task similarity with peers. Through post-hoc analyses, we provide evidence that the observed behaviors are consistent with a mechanism of information sharing between physicians. This study contributes to our understanding of peer influence in the workplace by showing how the task structure within organizations can either amplify or diminish peer influence. This awareness is particularly crucial for health care organizations in which such dynamics can have life-changing consequences.