The Theory-Based View: Economic Actors as Theorists

Traditional economic theory assumes that economic actors have all the information they need and will make rational decisions. If that were the case, differences in strategy would merely result from different initial positions or luck. Professors Teppo Felin of Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and Todd Zenger of the University of Utah don’t subscribe to that view but posit that varying strategies are the result of different perceptions. They see entrepreneurs and other economic actors as scientists generating hypotheses and experiments. In their paper in Strategy Science, Felin and Zenger argue that successful strategies arise from good theories. Managers and entrepreneurs might find this scholarly paper a bit academic, but they’ll appreciate its contrarian perspectives and practical insights.