Board Interlocks and the Diffusion of Innovation (Job Market Paper)
I propose that board interlocks can act as a channel of information transmission and social learning, hence enhancing the diffusion of innovation among firms. I find that a firm’s patents are more likely to be cited by the patents from the firms that share common board of directors (i.e., interlocked firm). The result is robust under a difference-in-differences setting, where the death or retirement of interlocking directors is used as an exogeneous shock to board interlock. The effect is more pronounced for interlocking directors who have a longer experience with R&D intensive industries, have a larger network, and have a higher compensation delta. Furthermore, I find that board interlock enhances the diffusion of innovation across industries, however, it has no effect on within-industry knowledge diffusion. Finally, I document that board interlock enhances firms’ overall innovation output, measured by patent counts and citation counts per patent. The paper sheds light on an important advising role played by the board of directors in promoting knowledge spillover and innovation.
Public Pension Fund and Workplace Safety (with Connie X. Mao and Chi Zhang)
We study the impact of public pension fund on workplace safety and find that firms with the presence of public pension fund have lower injury rates for their owning establishments. This result is obtained by two stage least square estimation with the local bias of public pension fund as an instrument. Our results suggest public pension fund ownership has an important impact on employee welfare.
Gig Economy and Nonprofit Donations (with Erica Harris, Yi Xiao and Jian Zhang)
Stock Liquidity and Social Media Analyst Coverage: Evidence from Tick Size Pilot Program (with Shuning Gao, Yuqi Han, and Xuyang Zou).
The Effect of Healthcare Cost on Nonprofit Organizations (with Steven Balsam and Connie X. Mao)
Corporate Income Tax and Hospital Outcomes (with Rui Dai and Xinyu Zhu)
Melody of Investor Sentiment: Background Music at Investor Day and Firm/Stock Performance (with Jian Zhang and Xinyu Zhu)
Authenticity of Facial Expression and Donor Intention (with Jian Zhang and Xinyu Zhu)
Gig Economy and Mental Health (with Jian Zhang and Xinyu Zhu)
P2P Lending and Mental Health (with Jian Zhang and Xinyu Zhu)