Sonja Opper

Sonja Opper is a Professor of Global Strategy and Institutions at Università Bocconi. Before joining Bocconi, she was the Gad Rausing Professor of International Economics and Business at the Department of Economics at Lund University in Sweden. Her research is about how individual effort and local institutions contribute to some businesses being much more successful than others. 

Her current research explores patterns of institutional change, the interplay between social networks and institutions, and social heuristics of strategic decisions. Most of her empirical research is set in transition and emerging economies—such as China’s economy—which offer a natural laboratory for the study of social and institutional change. In her research she combines different methodologies such as standard manager and company surveys, laboratory experiments and social network analysis. She is the author of numerous articles on her topics of interest. Her works have been published in the Journal of Management Studies, Academy of Management Journal, and in the Management and Organization Review, among others.  

She got her PhD in Economics from the University of Tubingen in Germany.