Ronald S. Burt

Ronald Burt studies the social structure of competitive advantage in careers, organizations, and markets. Burt is the author of six books, two software programs, and numerous articles and chapters in academic works. His publications include Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital published by Oxford University Press in 2005; "Secondhand Brokerage: evidence on the importance of local structure for managers, bankers, and analysts," which appeared in the Academy of Management Journal in 2007; and "The Social Capital of French and American Managers," which appeared in Organization Science in 2000.

Burt joined the Chicago Booth faculty in 1993. When commenting on the difference in environments at various institutions, he described Chicago as a place where "the risk of new ideas is higher than anywhere else because you are continually exposed to confrontation and contradiction and so many other places protect you from that."

Originally a pre-med major, Burt became curious as to why he couldn't account for people's behavior. He went into social psychology, where he was influenced by mathematical sociologist James Coleman.

.He earned a bachelor's degree in social and behavioral science from Johns Hopkins University in 1971, a master's degree in sociology from the State University of New York at Albany in 1973, and a PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1977.

Selected Publications

"Industry performance and indirect access to structural holes," Advances in Strategic Management (Elsevier, 2008).

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"Secondhand Brokerage: evidence on the importance of local structure for managers, bankers, and analysts," Academy of Management Journal (2007).

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With D. Ronchi, "Teaching executives to see social capital: results from a field experiment," Social Science Research (2007).

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Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital (Oxford University Press, 2005).

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"Structural Holes and Good Ideas," American Journal of Sociology (2004).

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