Studying the processes and factors that influence industrial structure, John Sutton has done tremendous contributions to the world of economics. While much of his work is applied and cited by management scholars, we believe there is much more potential to unveil by looking at the points of contact between his work and the strategy field. In this panel symposium, we aim to stimulate a rich discussion regarding John Sutton’s influential and foundational work (in particular on Market Structure, Sunk Costs, and Submarkets). We particularly focus on how we understand competition and market structure through the lens of his important work, and examine implications to central strategy theories, such as the first-mover advantages and capability view. After briefly going over what we have learned so far from John’s work in the field, we will draw on these different contributions in order to bridge his work with the established theories in management and strategy fields, and aim to come up with a further research agenda to realize their potential.

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Uzunca, Bilgehan, Gimeno, J., Lieberman, M. B. & Sutton, J. (2019). Understanding John Sutton's influence on strategy/management literature. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2019 (1), pp. 16528-16541. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2019.16528symposium.