Elena Obukhova

Elena Obukhova is the Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Professor of Entrepreneurship and an Assistant Professor of Global Economics and Managementat the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Elena Obukhova is an Assistant Professor in the Global Economics and Management group at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she studies when and how social networks benefit individuals and organizations, with particular attention to China. At Sloan, she teaches MBA and PhD courses in international management. A native of Russia, she is also professionally fluent in Mandarin (HSK level 8) and has been conducting research intensively in China since 1995.

Obukhova’s first stream of research investigates the role of social networks in labor markets. In a series of papers, she reveals the benefits job seekers receive from using social relationships in their job search. In her second stream of research, Obukhova uses social networks as a theoretical lens to focus on Chinese returnee-entrepreneurs, or Chinese nationals who start new ventures in China after studying or working in developed economies. In particular, her research seeks to unveil the conditions under which the networks these entrepreneurs have in China and abroad affect firm performance. Because existing data cannot answer many of these questions, Obukhova’s studies typically involve design of new survey modules, face-to-face interviews, hand-coding of existing data, and/or acquiring previously unavailable datasets.

Prior to joining MIT, Obukhova completed a PhD in Sociology at the University of Chicago.