mgsci-theory-development
Use when building the theoretical core of a Management Science (INFORMS) paper — either a formal analytical model (assumptions, equilibrium, propositions/theorems, comparative statics) or empirically testable hypotheses derived from a clear mechanism. Adapts to the paper's lane; it does not run the analysis (mgsci-data-analysis) or frame the contribution (mgsci-contribution-framing).
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill mgsci-theory-development --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Theory Development (mgsci-theory-development) ## When to trigger - You have an intuition but no model or no mechanism - Hypotheses are descriptive ("X relates to Y") with no stated mechanism - An analytical model has results but unclear/unstated assumptions - A Department Editor or reviewer asked "what is the theory here?" or "why is this the right model?" Because Management Science is **bimethodological**, "theory development" means one of two disciplined things depending on your Department lane. ## Lane A — Analytical / formal model For Optimization and Decision Analytics, Stochastic Models and Simulation, Operations Management, Finance (theory), Business Strategy (theory), and economic-theory submissions: - **State assumptions explicitly and defend them.** Each assumption should be necessary, behaviorally or economically reasonable, and you should know which results break without it. - **Define the decision problem.** Players/decision-maker, actions, timing, information, objective. Make the optimization/equilibrium concept precise. - **Derive results as propositions/theorems** with proofs (in text or appendix). Reviewers check that proofs are correct and that results are not a
- When to trigger
- Lane A — Analytical / formal model
- Lane B — Empirical hypotheses from a mechanism
- The unifying bar
- Anti-patterns
- Theory pass for Management Science
- Worked micro-example (illustrative) and theory pushback
- Output format
What does the mgsci-theory-development skill do?
Use when building the theoretical core of a Management Science (INFORMS) paper — either a formal analytical model (assumptions, equilibrium, propositions/theorems, comparative statics) or empirically testable hypotheses derived from a clear mechanism. Adapts to the paper's lane; it does not run the analysis (mgsci-data-analysis) or frame the contribution (mgsci-contribution-framing).
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill mgsci-theory-development --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, a repository with 909 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.