IPE Thrust Research Seminar | Researcher-Entrepreneur Relationship and Performance of Innovative Startups

10:30am - 12:00pm
(Hybrid) Rm 101, E1 & Online via Zoom Zoom ID: 969 6528 8915 Passcode: ipe

Researcher-Entrepreneur Relationship and Performance of Innovative Startups

 

Abstract

We study the researcher-entrepreneur relationship and its implications for startup performance. Innovative startups not only generate profit from the product market but also value from knowledge spillover. Many governments compensate R&D activities in the form of grants, subsidies, patent license fees, etc. These policies are Pigouvian subsidies that narrow the gap between social and private returns of innovation. We find that because the researcher has a stronger bargaining power in the joint venture, R&D subsidies to knowledge may not increase the researcher's effort. Instead, these subsidies induce the entrepreneur to over-supply his effort, and the outcome can be worse than that under laissez-faire. Our findings offer insights into the design of a policy portfolio that fixes both external market failures and internal frictions within innovative startups. The conventional Pigouvian subsidies to innovation need to be complemented with policies on startup governance and the labor market of entrepreneurs.

Event Format
Speakers / Performers:
Yangguang (Sunny) Huang
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Yangguang (Sunny) Huang is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research areas are Industrial Organization and Applied Microeconomics. His research projects tackle problems in auctions, procurement, corruption, financial development, digital economy, online markets, and innovation policy. He has published papers in Management Science, International Economic Review, Games and Economic Behavior, and European Economic Review.  

Language
English
Recommended For
Alumni
Faculty and staff
General public
PG students
UG students
Organizer
Society Hub, HKUST(GZ)
Post an event
Campus organizations are invited to add their events to the calendar.