Research

Working Papers

Patent Litigation Risk and Innovation Strategy

Job Market Paper

Abstract

I examine how patent litigation risk affects corporate innovation strategy. Using a Supreme Court decision that exogenously increased expected litigation risk and costs, I analyze how firms' innovation strategies change based on their ex-ante patent litigation exposure. I find that firms with higher ex-ante litigation exposure engage in more exploratory innovation and less exploitative innovation after the decision. High-exposure firms focus more on fields with lower litigation risk and reduce innovation in riskier ones. These strategic adjustments occur alongside an increase in overall R&D intensity. This change in innovation strategy comes at the cost of lower patent value and reduced market valuation. My analysis suggests that exploratory innovation serves as a precautionary response to mitigate expected patent litigation risk in a firm's own industry.

Presentations: 2027 AFA PhD Poster Session, 2026 New Zealand Finance Meeting PhD Session, 2026 SFA, 2026 FMA, 2026 NFA PhD Poster Session, 2025 FMA Doctoral Student Consortium, and 2025 University of Alberta Business PhD Research Conference.

The Innovation Effects of Corporate Spinoffs

with Wenjin Feng and Jingxuan Zhang

Short Abstract

We study the effect of corporate spinoffs on firms' subsequent innovation and find that corporate spinoffs increase innovation at spun-off firms while leaving parent-firm innovation largely unchanged. Spinoffs also reorganize innovative activity across new firm boundaries by reallocating patents and exploratory inventors toward the newly independent firms.

The Matchmaking Effects of Inadvertent Networks: The Facilitation of Venture Capital Financings by Law Firm Connections

with Sahil Raina

Short Abstract

We examine the role of law firms as information intermediaries in venture capital and find that startup–VC pairs are more likely to transact when they have prior ties to the same law firm. The effect increases as the VC’s prior experience in the startup’s industry declines and is stronger when the law firm has recently advised the VC. These patterns are consistent with an introduction channel in which law firms help connect startups with investors that would otherwise be less likely to find each other.

Bankruptcy Next Door: Corporate Reorganization and Household Spending

with Huijun Yan

Short Abstract

We examine the local spillover effects of Chapter 11 filings on household consumption. Households living closer to filing firms show a relative increase in spending after the filing, with the effect attenuating with geographic distance.

Work in Progress

Star Inventors and Firm Performance

with Jingxuan Zhang