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Kristina McElheran

Kristina McElheran

Kristina McElheran

Assistant Professor of Strategy, Department of Management, University of Toronto, Scarborough and Rotman
Faculty Affiliate, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society at UofT
Digital Fellow, Digital Economy Lab at Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI
Visiting Researcher, Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School
Fellow, Technology & Policy Research Initiative at Boston University
Digital Fellow, Initiative on the Digital Economy at MIT
Lab Economist, Creative Destruction Lab

Degrees:

Ph.D. Northwestern University
A.M., Stanford University
A.B. Stanford University
Dip. London School of Economics
A.B. Albion College

Personal Website:

Bio

Kristina’s research centres on the use of digital technologies and data by firms, with an emphasis on strategy, organizational design, and process innovation. Her current focus is on data-driven decision making and how firms and individuals can use data to improve their performance. She is also actively investigating the economic and strategic impacts of Cloud Computing.

Kristina’s experience includes six years on faculty at the Harvard Business School. She is a Faculty Affiliate at UofT’s Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society; Digital Fellow at the Digital Economy Lab, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI; Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School on AI, Robotics, and the Future of Work; Fellow at Boston University’s Technology and Policy Research Initiative; Digital Fellow at MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy; Affiliate Member of CESifo; and Senior Fellow at NORC at the University of Chicago. She divides her time between Rotman and the University of Toronto, Scarborough, where she teaches strategic management.

Prior to her academic career, Kristina worked for two early-stage technology ventures in Silicon Valley. She currently serves as a Lab Economist at the Creative Destruction Lab, one of Toronto’s premier seed-stage programs for technology startups.

Academic Positions

  • 2014–

    Assistant Professor, University of Toronto

  • 2023–

    Senior Fellow, Economics, Justice & Society Department, NORC at the University of Chicago

  • 2023–

    Affiliate Member, CESifo

  • 2020–

    Faculty Affiliate, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, University of Toronto

  • 2020–

    Digital Fellow, Digital Economy Lab, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI

  • 2018–

    Visiting Researcher, Harvard Law School Labor and Worklife Program

  • 2018–

    Fellow, Boston University Technology & Policy Research Initiative

  • 2013–

    Digital Fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy

  • 2008–2014

    Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School

Selected Publications - Papers

Selected Publications - Books and Chapters

Selected Publications - Forthcoming

Featured Work

Kristina’s work has been featured in Management ScienceAmerican Economic Review, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Journal of Econometrics, Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Forbes, Rotman Magazine, and Communications of the ACM.

Research and Teaching Interests

Innovation and technological change, digital transformation, digital technologies, corporate strategy, managerial decision-making, organizational economics

Honors and Awards

  • 2022

    Insight Development Grant, SSHRC

  • 2021

    Best Rigor in Research, Competitive Strategy Interest Group, Strategic Management Society Annual Conference

  • 2021

    Best Paper, Knowledge and Innovation Management Interest Group, Strategic Management Society Annual Conference

  • 2020

    Edmund A. Mennis Contributed Paper Award, National Association for Business Economics

  • 2019

    Best Paper (Honourable Mention), Strategic Management Society Annual Conference

  • 2019

    Kauffman Foundation Grant, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

  • 2018

    Two Kauffman Knowledge Challenge Grants, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

  • 2018

    Digitization Working Group Research Grant, National Bureau of Economic Research

  • 2017

    Insight Development Grant, SSHRC

  • 2017

    Insight Grant, SSHRC

  • 2016

    Entrepreneurship Working Group Research Grant, National Bureau of Economic Research

  • 2016

    Institutional Grant, SSHRC

  • 2015

    Connaught New Researcher Award, University of Toronto

  • 2014

    Finalist, Oliver E. Williamson Best Conference Paper Award, ISNIE

  • 2013

    Research Grant, Israel-US Binanational Science Foundation

  • 2008

    Finalist, Best Student Paper, Academy of Management, TIM Division

Academic / Professional Service

  • 2016 - present

    Lab Economist, Creative Destruction Lab