Brad R. Turner

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Introduction

I am a doctoral candidate in Economic Sociology at the MIT Sloan School of Management.My research explores how entrepreneurs, organizations, and market-movers can communicate to capture attention and mobilize resources, with a focus on strategic and economic narratives.

Research Summary

I explore the power and limits of strategic communication in entrepreneurship and markets.My dissertation focuses on how organizations use narratives, or stories, to achieve strategic goals. In my job-market paper, I qualitatively analyze entrepreneur-investor interactions at three pitch events. Based on the lines of questions that entrepreneurs receive from investors, I ground hypotheses about why some stories mobilize investors while others trigger skepticism and can damage credibility. In a second paper, with Georg Rilinger, I explore economic narratives that shape stock market valuations. We study activist short sellers - key critics in financial markets - who circulate sprawling narrative reports. We classify narratives using qualitative analysis and machine learning, combined with industry and firm-level data, and interviews. We theorize how short sellers motivate and coordinate audiences, which depends on varied evaluative standards. In these papers, I draw on new theory from my review of 40 years of narrative research, published in Academy of Management Annals.In select working papers, I am exploring questions in entrepreneurship and innovation. With Ethan Poskanzer, I explore how publicly-funded accelerators and pitch competitions stimulate regional economic development outside dominant ecosystems. And with Fiona Murray, I examine the recent rise and de-stigmatization of defense and dual-use entrepreneurship.

Research Publications and Projects

Published
Turner, Brad R. 2025. “Narrative Affordances: What Stories Can and Cannot Do.” Academy of Management AnnalsPreparing or submitted manuscripts
Turner, Brad R. “Not all Good Stories Make Good Investments: Why Symbols Need Substance to Be Credible and Legitimating”Rilinger, Georg, and Brad R. Turner (co-first authors). Paper on persuasion and coordination in financial markets [title hidden for review]Select working papers
Poskanzer, Ethan and Brad R. Turner (co-first authors). "Can Public Entrepreneurship Programs Create Jobs Outside of Dominant Ecosystems? Analysis of an Accelerator and Pitch Competition’s Regional Impact." Status: Data collectionTurner, Brad R. and Fiona Murray. “From Defense to Offense: The De-Stigmatization of Dual-Use Entrepreneurship and Investing” (working title). Status: Data collection

Teaching

For three years, I focused on supporting Sloan's pathbreaking EMBA hackathon, Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurial Advantage. As TA, I had ample opportunity to present, mentor students, and learn from an outstanding teaching team.I also served as a TA for classes on strategy, leadership, and research design. Previously, I taught an undergraduate elective at my alma mater, Syracuse University.I also earned MIT's Grad Teaching Certificate, served as Sloan's Teaching Development Fellow (2022-2023), and co-wrote two Case Teaching Notes with HBS Professor Ranjay Gulati.

Personal Background

Before entering academia, I was a lab manager at Cornell-Johnson, an analyst at Bridgewater Associates, and a regional macroeconomic forecaster at Moody's Analytics. I hold a M.A. in sociology from the University of Chicago; a B.S. in economics from Syracuse University; and was a Fulbright Fellow in philosophy at the University of Helsinki.