Sample selection and theory development: Implications of firms' varying abilities to appropriately select new ventures arturs kalnins
强调在理论发展中需考虑样本选择问题，指出选择过程可能产生或抵消实证关系，导致错误的理论结论，对从事实证研究的经济管理学者有重要警示。
I highlight the need to consider sample selection when developing theory. When a sample is the result of a selection process, the process may be (1) generating empirical relationships consistent with a theoretical explanation that plays no causal role or (2) canceling out an empirical relationship actually generated by a causal process associated with a proposed theory. I argue that firms' varying abilities to appropriately select new ventures and select in or out of samples of such investments can lead to empirical misinterpretation and inappropriate theoretical conclusions.