Dan Lovallo

Dan Lovallo is Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Decision Sciences at the University of Sydney Business School, within the Discipline of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He earned his Ph.D. in Behavioral Economics from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Lovallo's research centers on behavioral strategy, innovation, resource allocation, and managerial cognition, exploring how psychological biases such as overconfidence and optimism affect strategic decision-making in organizations. His work integrates insights from behavioral economics and psychology to address issues like project governance, capital allocation, and responses to uncertainty by individuals and firms.

Lovallo serves as a senior research fellow at the Institute for Business Innovation at UC Berkeley and has advised McKinsey & Company. He has authored numerous influential publications that have shaped the field of strategic management. Key works include 'Timid Choices and Bold Forecasts: A Cognitive Perspective on Risk Taking' (1993, with Daniel Kahneman, Management Science), 'Overconfidence and Excess Entry: An Experimental Approach' (1999, with Colin Camerer, American Economic Review), 'Delusions of Success: How Optimism Undermines Executives' Decisions' (2003, with Kahneman, Harvard Business Review), 'Behavioral Strategy' (2011, with Thomas C. Powell and Craig R. Fox, Strategic Management Journal), 'Before You Make That Big Decision' (2011, with Kahneman and Olivier Sibony, Harvard Business Review), and 'Delusion and Deception in Large Infrastructure Projects' (2009, with Bent Flyvbjerg and Massimo Garbuio, California Management Review). These papers, among others, have garnered over 16,000 citations on Google Scholar, highlighting his substantial impact. Lovallo teaches units such as Business Negotiations and Decision Making in the MBA program at the University of Sydney.

Professional Email: dan.lovallo@sydney.edu.au