Does a recursive structure actually save you anything if you know the depth?

In otherwords, would it actually be more effective to create a table for each level and relate them if you know the number of levels in a hierarchy?

I haven't tested, but I expect the table per level would be quicker than a recursive query. It is also more straight-forward to understand, but of course it is less flexible to future expansion ("let's add a new level between levels 2 and 3").