Olav Sorenson is currently the Joseph Jacobs Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies, Faculty Research Director of the Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Professor of Strategy, at the University of California Los Angeles. He was the recipient of the 2018 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research. Prior to his current appointment, Olav held the Frederick Frank '54 and Mary C. Tanner Professorship at Yale (2009-2020), the Jeffrey S. Skoll Chair in Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Toronto (2006-2009), and a professorship in Strategic and International Management at London Business School (2005-2007). He grew up in South Dakota and received his bachelor's de- gree from Harvard College and his master's and doctoral degrees from Stanford University. He has also received an honorary doctorate from Aalborg University.

Selected Publications

“Home Sweet Home: Entrepreneurs’ Location Choices and the Performance of Their Ventures” (with M.S. Dahl), Management Science, Vol. 58, 1059-1071, 2012

“Non-compete Covenants: Incentives to Innovate or Impediments to Growth” (with S. Samila), Management Science, Vol. 57, 425-438, 2011

“Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, and Regional Economic Growth” (with S. Samila), Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 93, 338-349, 2011

“The Ratings Game: Asymmetry in Classification” (with D.M. Waguespack), Organization Science, Vol. 22, 541-553, 2011

“The Social Attachment to Place” (with M.S. Dahl), Social Forces, Vol. 89, 633-658, 2010

“The Migration of Technical Workers” (with M.S. Dahl), Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 67, 33-45, 2010

“The Embedded Entrepreneur” (with M.S. Dahl), European Management Review, Vol. 6, 172-181, 2009

“Bringing the Context Back in: Settings and the Search for Syndicate Partners in Venture Capital Investing” (with T.E. Stuart), Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 53, 266-294, 2008

“Corporate Demography and Income Inequality” (with J.B. Sorensen), American Sociological Review, Vol. 72, 766-783, 2007

“Brokers and Competitive Advantage” (with M.D. Ryall), Management Science, Vol. 53, 566-583, 2007