Justin Tumlinson is Associate Professor (Reader) in Business Analytics and Director of the Research Methods Centre at the University of Exeter Business School.
He studies the economics of teams, how they form and when they do not, the incentives of team members and loners, as well as teamwork's impact on public and private welfare. This study often extends to the behavior of entrepreneurs. Although primarily an applied game-theorist, he also examines questions empirically. More broadly, Tumlinson enjoys applying formal analytics to controversial topics typically associated with softer debate.
Tumlinson is also Founder and Managing Partner of a small firm, ZIVIS LLC, engaged primarily in the advisement of so-called angel investors and management of non-traditional investment assets. Prior to founding ZIVIS, he analyzed deals and managed portfolio firms for Earlybird, a Munich based, early-stage, venture capital firm. He has also served as Senior Lecturer at Loughborough University, Research Fellow of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, Visiting Professor at EM Lyon Grand Ecole and in a variety of positions at Intel where he researched advanced networking technologies, advised capital equipment decisions, global manufacturing operations and Intel Capital’s investment strategy.
He holds a PhD and MS in Business Administration and an MS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, all from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a BSE in Computer Science and Engineering from Northern Arizona University. He is a German Chancellor’s Scholar and a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His other awards include the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship, the Fulbright Fellowship, and the Bosch Future Leaders of America Fellowship.
Full Curriculum Vitae (Two Page Version)
He studies the economics of teams, how they form and when they do not, the incentives of team members and loners, as well as teamwork's impact on public and private welfare. This study often extends to the behavior of entrepreneurs. Although primarily an applied game-theorist, he also examines questions empirically. More broadly, Tumlinson enjoys applying formal analytics to controversial topics typically associated with softer debate.
Tumlinson is also Founder and Managing Partner of a small firm, ZIVIS LLC, engaged primarily in the advisement of so-called angel investors and management of non-traditional investment assets. Prior to founding ZIVIS, he analyzed deals and managed portfolio firms for Earlybird, a Munich based, early-stage, venture capital firm. He has also served as Senior Lecturer at Loughborough University, Research Fellow of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, Visiting Professor at EM Lyon Grand Ecole and in a variety of positions at Intel where he researched advanced networking technologies, advised capital equipment decisions, global manufacturing operations and Intel Capital’s investment strategy.
He holds a PhD and MS in Business Administration and an MS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, all from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a BSE in Computer Science and Engineering from Northern Arizona University. He is a German Chancellor’s Scholar and a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His other awards include the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship, the Fulbright Fellowship, and the Bosch Future Leaders of America Fellowship.
Full Curriculum Vitae (Two Page Version)
Selected Publications
"The Limits of Meritocracy" with John Morgan and Felix Várdy (2022) Journal of Economic Theory
"Does Experience Improve Acquisition Performance? It’s Complicated, and That is When it Helps Most" with Lena Langosch (2022) Academy of Management Discoveries
"Information Frictions and Entrepreneurship" with Deepak Hegde (2021) Strategic Management Journal 42(3):491-528.
"Corporate Provision of Public Goods" with John Morgan (2019) Management Science 65(10):4451-4949.
"Does Social Proximity Enhance Business Partnerships? Theory and Evidence from Ethnicity’s Role in US Venture Capital" with Deepak Hegde (2014) Management Science 60(9):2355-2380.
- Featured in Marginal Revolution (7Sep18), and National Affairs (19Sep18)
"Does Experience Improve Acquisition Performance? It’s Complicated, and That is When it Helps Most" with Lena Langosch (2022) Academy of Management Discoveries
"Information Frictions and Entrepreneurship" with Deepak Hegde (2021) Strategic Management Journal 42(3):491-528.
- Lead article (March 2021, SMJ)
- Winner of the "FGF Best Entrepreneurship Research Newcomer Award 2014."
- Featured in Forbes (10Apr18), VentureBeat (12Apr18), Quartz (18Apr18), and Inc. (19Apr18)
"Corporate Provision of Public Goods" with John Morgan (2019) Management Science 65(10):4451-4949.
"Does Social Proximity Enhance Business Partnerships? Theory and Evidence from Ethnicity’s Role in US Venture Capital" with Deepak Hegde (2014) Management Science 60(9):2355-2380.
- Featured in Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung (16 March 2014), on Fazit – das Wirtschaftsblog (20 March 2014), on NPR's Marketplace (1 April 2014), and Harvard Business Review (19 June 2014)
Selected Working Papers
Bad Trade: The Loss of Variety (with John Morgan and Felix Várdy)
Adverse Selection in Team Formation under Discrimination
Whom to Acquire? – Culture, Country or Kilometers in Target Selection (with Lena Langosch)
The (Un)Level Playing Field: How Color-Blind Educational Tracking Leads to Unequal Access (With John Morgan & Thomas Triebs)
Learning Capitalism the Hard Way--Evidence from Germany's Reunification (with Thomas Triebs)
Adverse Selection in Team Formation under Discrimination
Whom to Acquire? – Culture, Country or Kilometers in Target Selection (with Lena Langosch)
The (Un)Level Playing Field: How Color-Blind Educational Tracking Leads to Unequal Access (With John Morgan & Thomas Triebs)
Learning Capitalism the Hard Way--Evidence from Germany's Reunification (with Thomas Triebs)