Do professional service firms in emerging economies have smaller staffs and more flattened organizational structures relative to professional service firms in developed economies, and if so, why? This study suggests that organizational structure is leveraged when institutions are strong; however, this is less effective in emerging economies in which weak institutions make knowledge relatively inseparable from its institutional context. Institutional context, whether in developed or emerging economies, thus influences professional service firm structure. This has implications for professional service firms in developed economies that diversify into emerging economies in terms of structural alignment with the institutional context.