Discussion: View Thread

The space economy is an unusually rich setting for phenomenon-driven research - research that begins with real-world transformations, puzzles, and empirical surprises rather than only with gaps in existing literature.

This roundtable explores how scholars can use the space economy to identify compelling phenomena, bound them analytically, and translate rich empirical observations into credible theoretical contributions.

The sector combines extreme uncertainty, long development horizons, shifting public–private boundaries, dual-use considerations, rapid technological change, and evolving institutions. These features create puzzles that can challenge existing theories and open opportunities for discovery-oriented inquiry.

👥 Facilitators
• Kevin Rockmann - George Mason University
• Erkko Autio - Imperial College Business School
• Yong Li - University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Jeffrey Martin - University of Alabama

🧩 Discussion questions
• What makes the space economy especially well suited for phenomenon-driven and discovery-oriented research?
• How do we distinguish a "good phenomenon" from a context that is merely novel?
• How can scholars immerse themselves in space-industry contexts such as ventures, agencies, supply chains, and regulators?
• How should researchers bound phenomena by unit, level of analysis, time window, and comparison?
• How can we move from descriptive richness to analytical clarity and theory-building?
• What methodological challenges arise from data sparsity, secrecy, dual-use constraints, and rare events?
• What underexplored phenomena deserve more attention, including hype and legitimacy dynamics, financing regimes, public–private partnerships, mission assurance, standards, regulation, and geopolitical shocks?

Join us for a focused conversation on how the Space Economy can help management scholars move from frontier phenomena to stronger empirical regularities, plausible explanations, and broader contributions to organization, strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship theory.

🗓️ August 1, 2026 | 2:00–5:30 PM
📍 Loews Hotel, Philadelphia, USA
🔗 Register: https://lnkd.in/e3czZT4R
📩 Questions: Mehdi.montakhabi@said.oxford.edu