This research contributes to institutional theory by examining the influence of informal institutions on formal institutions and the effects of formal institutions on inward foreign direct investment. In particular, the authors integrate prior research from multiple disciplines to identify and to examine the roles of a country’s formal regulatory, political, and economic institutions. The results suggest that the country’s informal institutions, in the form of the cultural dimensions of collectivism and future orientation, shape the country’s formal institutions. In turn, each of the three formal institutions affects the country’s level of inward foreign direct investment differently. To facilitate future research, the authors also provide a set of measures for formal institutions in 50 countries.

The current study investigates a central premise of the resource‐based view of the firm—that managers are a potential source of value creation for the firm. Using data from professional sports teams, we test theory regarding the effects of managerial ability, human resource stocks, and managers' actions on resource value creation. While results indicate managerial ability affects resource productivity, this effect is less pronounced with increases in the quality of firm resources. Further, we investigate the extent to which managerial actions that synchronize resource bundles account for the influence of managerial ability and resource context on a firm's performance advantage. These results contribute to our understanding of resource management and provide empirical evidence for the importance of managerial ability in the resource‐based view. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

What roles do CEOs play in firm performance? To address this question, the management field has accumulated a substantial amount of research over the past 3 decades built on upper echelons theory (UET), which posits that CEO characteristics manifest in firm strategic actions and, in this way, future firm performance. Hence, there is a need to systematically amass and take stock of prior empirical findings for UET testing and development. We use meta-analytic techniques to synthesize prior UET research on the relationships among commonly studied CEO characteristics, firm strategic actions, and future firm performance. Based on 308 studies, meta-analytic results generally support UET's predictions with a few exceptions: CEO characteristics (i.e., tenure, formal education, prior career experience, and positive self-concept) are significantly associated with firm strategic actions, which in turn are significantly related to future firm performance. Moreover, CEO characteristics (i.e., age, tenure, formal education, and prior career experience) are positively related to future firm performance. In addition, fine-grained analyses have revealed interesting and important relationships between specific measures of CEO characteristics (e.g., CEO prior task experience) and firm outcomes (e.g., firm strategic actions that match with CEO prior We thank Drs. Donald C. Hambrick, Bruce T. Lamont, Chad Van Iddekinge, Kibeom Lee, John Haleblian, and Huy Le for their valuable comments on an early version of this paper and/or assistance. We also thank all the authors of the primary studies, who collectively made this meta-analysis possible.

We extend existing theories of entrepreneurial learning and highlight the effects of heuristics under two different learning contexts: experiential learning and vicarious learning. Specifically, we argue that heuristics are consequential in explaining variations in learning. In some cases, heuristics can be highly adaptive and beneficial to the accumulation of knowledge. In others, they can distort judgments and bias learning. By considering linkages among heuristics, knowledge, and action, we seek to provide a more complete model of entrepreneurial learning that allows for examination of the influence of judgments on learning and to expose conditions that can benefit or limit effective action in an entrepreneurial setting.

Building on research from multiple fields, management and entrepreneurship scholars have shown increasing interest in the causes and consequences of initial public offerings (IPOs). The authors summarize this emerging literature and categorize research on IPOs into four broad themes: corporate governance, upper echelons, social influence, and innovation. They also review the various measures used by scholars to assess IPO performance. Based on this review, the authors develop an agenda for future research. This agenda provides both topics and research questions for future research and recommendations regarding IPO performance measurement.