I am Associate Professor of Strategy and Economics at the Melbourne School of Business. My primary research interest is the formal theoretical foundations of business strategy. This is a small but rapidly growing research area that uses mathematical models to analyze issues relating to value appropriation under competition (who gets what, why and for how long -- all central questions for those interested in the practice of strategy).
Articles
Empirical Implications of Information Structure in Finite-Length Extensive-Form Games. (with Jose Penalva-Zuasti), The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics (2008)
We analyze what can be inferred about a game's information structure solely from the probability...
Formal Contracts in the Presence of Relational Enforcement Mechanisms: Evidence from Technology Development Projects (with Rachelle C. Samspson), Management Science (forthcoming) (2008)
Formal contracting addresses the moral hazard problems inherent in inter-firm deals via explicit terms designed...
Brokers and Competitive Advantage (with Olav Sorenson), Management Science (2007)
The broker profits by intermediating between two (or more) parties. Using a biform game, we...
How Do Value Creation and Competition Determine Whether a Firm Appropriates Value? (with Glenn MacDonald), Management Science (2004)
How does competition among economic actors determine the value that each is able to appropriate?...
Subjective Rationality, Self-Confirming Equilibrium and Corporate Strategy, Management Science (2003)
This paper presents a formal theory of subjective rationality and demonstrates its applica- tion to...
Contributions to Books
Do Prior Alliances Influence Alliance Contract Structure? (with Rachelle C. Sampson), Strategic Alliances (2006)
Does Strategy Need Computer Experimentation? (with Scott Page), Advances in Strategic Management (1998)
The method of computer experimentation, which explores complex social phenomena using artificial adaptive agents, has...
Unpublished Papers
Causal Ambiguity as a Source of Sustained Capability-Based Advantages (2007)
This paper presents the first formal examination of role of causal ambiguity as a barrier...
Do New Competitors, New Customers, New Suppliers, ... Sustain, Destroy or Create Competitive Advantage? (with Glenn MacDonald) (2006)
A new player, e.g., an entrant, joining an existing game generally allows more value to...
Value-Based Business Strategy: Theoretical Implications for Strategy Formulation (with Joshua Gans and Glenn MacDonald) (2006)
The value-added approach is now widespread in the research, practice and teaching of business strategy....