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Jun 1

Corporate Innovation in Finance

Location:

Ph.D. Candidate Paulina Sperling of Finance Department will be defending her Dissertation Proposal titled, “Corporate Innovation in Finance” on 06/01/2021. The time and location of her dissertation defense is 10am-11.30am, on Zoom.

Many thanks to Paulina’s dissertation committee: • Committee Chair: Michelle Lowry - TD Bank Endowed Professor - Drexel University • Committee Member: David Becher - Professor - Drexel University • Committee Member: Gregory Nini - Associate Professor - Drexel University • Committee Member: Jie Cai - Associate Professor - Drexel University • Committee Member: Michela Verardo - Associate Professor - The London School of Economics and Political Science

Abstract: This dissertation focuses on corporate innovation. The three essays explore different aspects of how corporations manage, motivate, and use their innovation. The first essay explores patent litigation as a technique used either by large corporations with declining innovation capabilities or by corporations facing greater competition from innovative industry rivals. The second essay focuses on a specific type of innovation, Clean Technology, and how large corporations’ success in clean technology development influences their decision to pursue lobbying activities. Lastly, recognizing that smaller and younger firms tend to be more innovative (Phillips and Zhdanov 2013, Bena and Li 2013), the third essay highlights smaller and younger firms’ incentives to innovate. The essay emphasizes the importance of board of directors’ incentives as an internal monitoring mechanism that has a positive impact on innovation.

PhD Candidate