Ratings of corporations' environmental activities and capabilities influence billions dollars “socially responsible” investments as well some consumers, activists, potential employees. In one the first studies to assess these ratings, we examine how most widely used ratings—those Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini Research & Analytics (KLD)—provide transparency about past likely future performance. We find KLD “concern” ratings be fairly good summaries addition, firms with more concerns have...

Research summary : Raters of firms play an important role in assessing domains ranging from sustainability to corporate governance best places work. Managers, investors, and scholars increasingly rely on these ratings make strategic decisions, invest trillions dollars capital, study social responsibility ( CSR ), guided by the implicit assumption that are valid. We document surprising lack agreement across six well‐established raters. These differences remain even when we adjust for explicit...

Abstract Entrepreneurs in high‐technology industries often have prior experience at incumbent firms, but we know little about how knowledge obtained the employer impacts entrepreneurial performance. Drawing on previous work from strategy, economics, and organizational sociology, I assess impact of industry performance innovation medical device start‐ups. find that spawns (ventures started by former employees firms) perform better than other new entrants. Interestingly, my findings suggest...

Abstract While many rating systems seek to help buyers overcome information asymmetries when making purchasing decisions, we investigate how these ratings also influence the companies being rated. We hypothesize that are particularly likely spur responses from firms receive poor ratings, and especially those face lower‐cost opportunities improve or anticipate greater benefits doing do. test our hypotheses in context of corporate environmental guide investors select ‘socially responsible,’...

Successful scaling of social impact by a entrepreneurial organization is driven its capabilities in seven areas, identified this article using the acronym SCALERS: Staffing, Communicating, Alliance-building, Lobbying, Earnings-generation, Replicating, and Stimulating market forces. The relative importance each these driving will depend on several situational contingencies, such as labor needs or public support attracted causes programs. presents logic, theory, prior research that SCALERS...

Prior research on corporate innovation highlights the importance of accessing external knowledge from other firms and universities. However, survey evidence indicates that product users are perhaps most important source knowledge. We build existing theory to identify conditions under which user contributes when benefits will be greatest. Using a panel dataset medical device companies their collaborative efforts with innovative physicians, we find inventive collaborations enhance greatest in...

Research Summary: exploring investor reactions to sustainability has substantial empirical limitations, which we address with a large‐scale longitudinal financial event study of the first global index, DJSI World. We examine firms from 27 countries over 17 years that are added, deleted, or continue on index. find once relevant controls and comparisons observationally equivalent beyond index included, events have only limited significance and/or materiality. Nonetheless, investors' valuation...

In emerging-market countries, commercial institutions do not always develop sufficiently quickly or effectively to support ambitious entrepreneurs. How might intermediaries remedy these problems? We address this question by drawing on institutional literatures the concept of "open system intermediaries." Our research design involves examining business incubators in emerging markets as a form open intermediary. Empirically, we examine relative emphasis that countries place developing versus...

This paper reviews recent academic work on the spatial concentration of entrepreneurship and innovation in United States. We discuss rationales for agglomeration these activities economic consequences clusters. identify policies that are being pursued States to encourage local innovation. While arguments exist against policy support entrepreneurial clusters, our understanding what works how it is quite limited. The best path forward involves extensive experimentation careful evaluation.

Why do some entrepreneurs thrive while others fail? We explore whether the advice receive about managing their employees influences startup's performance. conducted a randomized field experiment in India with 100 high‐growth technology firms whose founders received in‐person from other who varied managerial style. find that peers formal approach to people—instituting regular meetings, setting goals consistently, and providing frequent feedback employees—grew 28% larger were 10 percentage...

CEO activism refers to corporate leaders speaking out on social and environmental policy issues not directly related their company’s core business, which distinguishes it from nonmarket strategy traditional responsibility. In the first study of this phenomenon, we implement two framed field experiments provide evidence how can influence public opinions about government policies consumer attitudes CEO’s company.

Recent scholarship argues that experimentation should be the organizing principle for entrepreneurial strategy. Experimentation leads to organizational learning, which drives improvements in firm performance. We investigate this proposition by exploiting time-varying adoption of A/B testing technology, has drastically reduced cost business ideas. Our results provide first evidence on how digital affects a large sample high-technology start-ups using data tracks their growth, technology use,...

In some third-world factories there is a literal wall of codes. Posted are dozens codes conduct as defined by customer, firm, and industry groups host certifying organizations. The cost this clear for managers: They must fill out endless forms visits from compliance auditors. Less obviously, the costly consumers other stakeholders who care about social performance businesses. Not only they pay (passed on) costs compliance, but with so many standards cannot always identify which valid...

Ratings of corporations' environmental activities and capabilities influence billions dollars socially responsible investments as well some consumers, activists, potential employees. In one the first studies to assess these ratings, we examine how most widely used ratings - those Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini Research & Analytics (KLD) provide transparency about past likely future performance. We find KLD concern be fairly good summaries addition, firms with more concerns have slightly, but...

Strategy research often aims to empirically establish a causal relationship between an independent variable and dependent such as firm performance. For many important strategy questions, however, traditional empirical techniques are not sufficient effects with high confidence. We propose that field experiments have potential be used more widely in research, leveraging methodological innovations from other disciplines address persistent puzzles the literature. first review advantages...

Anecdotal evidence suggests that innovative medical devices often arise from physicians' inventive activity, but no studies have documented the extent of such physician-engaged innovation. This paper uses patent data and American Medical Association Physician Masterfile to provide physicians contribute device innovation, accounting for almost 20 percent approximately 26,000 patents filed in United States during 1990-1996. Moreover, two measures indicate physician had more influence on...

We demonstrate that eponymy—firms being named after their owners—is linked to superior firm performance, but is relatively uncommon (about 19 percent of firms in our data). propose an explanation based on eponymy creating association between the entrepreneur and her increases reputational benefits/costs successful/unsuccessful outcomes. develop a corresponding signaling model, which further predicts these effects will be stronger for entrepreneurs with rarer names. find support model's...

We apply the dynamic capabilities framework to explore management of human capital, with particular emphasis on process “acqui-hiring.” Acqui-hiring is acquisition small companies primarily gain access their employees and has been proliferating according publicly available data. While this trend received considerable attention from practitioners, scholars have not systematically explored these acquisitions or explained how they fit into corporate strategy acquirers, mostly Silicon...

Abstract We study how firms target and influence expert intermediaries. In our context, pharmaceutical manufacturers provide payments to physicians during promotional interactions. develop an identification strategy based on plausibly exogenous variation in driven by differential exposure spillovers from academic medical centers’ conflict-of-interest policies. Using a case of important class cardiovascular drugs, we estimate heterogeneous effects prescribing, with targeting highly responsive...

The extensive academic literature on innovation has long recognized product users as a potentially important source of ideas. Although prior work primarily focused understanding the unique motivations and knowledge that allow to generate their own innovations, we extend existing theory investigate contribution corporate invention. We draw knowledge-based view firm, evolutionary theory, user theorize inventions integrate will be greater importance, contribute broader set follow-on...

Abstract Research Summary Scholars have traditionally characterized the variation in firm performance as determined by conditions after entry, where entry decision is a one‐shot binary choice cost–benefit analysis. However, recent theoretical work has posited that an outcome of learning process and information acquired during pre‐entry period shapes subsequent dynamics. We provide first systematic data on using nationally representative survey. document activities prospective entrants...

The economic expansion of the late 1990s created many opportunities for business creation in Silicon Valley, but opportunity cost starting a was also high during this period because exceptionally tight labor market. A new measure entrepreneurship derived from matching files Current Population Survey (CPS) is used to provide first test hypothesis that rates were Valley “Roaring 90s.” Unlike previous measures firm births based on large, nationally representative datasets, captures at...