Effectuation is a proposed new theory of entrepreneurship, with insufficient empirical testing and critical analysis. Drawing on a new, comprehensive set of theory-building criteria-sourced from and complementing those of Robert Dubin and others-we provide the first formal assessment of effectuation as a theory. We highlight its strengths and weaknesses, leveraging the former to address the latter in five different directions that would build on the existing work to improve this theory. The assessment exercise also displays the value of our assessment framework in guiding the evaluation and development of other existing and future theories in entrepreneurship and management.Effectuation, as a new proposed theory of entrepreneurship (Sarasvathy, 2001), appears to be at a crossroads: many scholars consider it a viable theory while many do not. Supporters include Fisher (2012), who believes effectuation is one of the few viable alternative theoretical perspectives describing entrepreneurial action, and Coviello and Joseph (2012), who find value in effectuation as an explanation of success in new product development. Detractors include Chiles, Bluedorn, and Gupta (2007), who find effectuation under-defined and unoriginal; Baron (2009), who argues that the focal agents described in it cannot actually exist; and Perry, Chandler, and Markova (2012), who conclude that effectuation has yet to be properly tested. We believe that any proposed theory of entrepreneurship is worthy of detailed assessment, especially one that has survived over a dozen years and continues to divide its audience. Given that "an awareness of the actions and behaviors of entrepreneurs is critical to understanding an entrepreneurial economy" (Chandler, DeTienne, McKelvie, & Mumford, 2011: 375), then studies of such actions are important, and if such studies are important, then the critical analysis of any new conceptualizations of such actions-like effectuation-is also important. We conduct that critical analysis based on a new, comprehensive set of theory-assessment criteria organized in an intuitive framework.We contribute to the entrepreneurship literature in two ways: (1) by providing critical analysis of effectuation as a theory and (2) by suggesting alternatives and directions for improving on and extending the effectual approach, based on our assessment as well as on recent developments in related entrepreneurship research. To that end, in this article we address the question of whether effectuation is good social science theory and, specifically, whether it is good entrepreneurship ! 1 theory. By providing a formal assessment of this proposed entrepreneurship theory, we define a clear standard for other proposed theories, of the present and future, in our field and others.Thus, a related contribution is the introduction of a new, comprehensive theory-assessment framework that is fair, objective, and applicable to any general business theory because it effectively summarizes the main criteria grounded in general normative and pragmat...