Jan. 6, 10:15 am AEA

Understanding Performance Heterogeneity between Firms: The Role of Organizational Capabilities

Presiding: LUIS GARICANO, University of Chicago

JOHN SUTTON, London School of Economics—Competing in Capabilities

ROBERT GIBBONS and REBECCA HENDERSON, Massachusetts Institute of Technology—Organizational Capabilities: Persistent Performance Differences among Seemingly Similar Enterprises

LUIS GARICANO, University of Chicago—Organizational Capabilities: A Cognitive Perspective

Discussants: ROB GERTNER, University of Chicago, JOHN ROBERTS, Stanford University, JAN RIVKIN, Harvard University

Here is Scott’s take: “It was interesting to see neoclassical types (like Gibbons and Sutton) trying to tackle the concept of capabilities. There seemed a general agreement among the presenters that firms do possess knowledge and that this knowledge is an important source of differential performance. It was, however, frustrating to see a lack of appreciation for the research already done in this area. Nelson and Winter were mentioned once in passing and John Roberts, as discussant, did briefly allude to business strategy literature, but that was all. The attempts by the authors were less than compelling.”