Associate Professor Elias Khalil

The central focus of Khalil’s research is the problem of creativity, which underpins the investigations of imagination, innovativeness, entrepreneurship, and the nature of organizations. Standard theory of rationality has been very effective in explaining markets and governance structures. However, standard theory is greatly malnutritioned when it comes to the study of creativity. The focus on creativity has led Khalil to the study of issues that define the thrust of behavioral economics. Khalil’s research program advances the effectiveness, after some modifications, of the rationality approach. Khalil’s approach touches on issues that are important for institutional economics, neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory, procedural theories of rationality à la Herbert Simon and belief formation à la Douglass North. Khalil’s work on creativity and the poer of the rationality approach has payoffs with regard to issues concerning rank/authorityFirm and how to understand malevolence/spite. Khalil’s papers appeared in Southern Economic Journal, Kyklos, Theory and Decision, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and other international journals.