Knowledge combination is a fundamental component of technological invention, which is a driver of new economic opportunities and firm growth. Yet, evidence suggests that myriad organizational factors, including managers, weigh heavily on the ability of firms to productively use R&D capabilities. This dissertation argues that managerial attention plays an important...
This dissertation consists of three essays that deal with problems of information acquisition and aggregation and the incentives to acquire such information. The first of the essays is titled The Timing of Complementary Innovations and studies the problem of an agent that acquires information about the viability of a project...
Technological innovation is a key determinant of economic growth, and my dissertation is to understand the links between the investment of technological innovation and financial markets, with a focus on how the macroeconomic environment interacts with and is influenced by the financial constraints facing firms. Chapter one investigates the links...
Social comparison is a ubiquitous part of social life. People compare themselves to others to establish and maintain a sense of social hierarchy and structure, to develop and sustain interpersonal relationships, and even to help understand themselves. In this dissertation, I focus on how the referent of social comparison –...
This dissertation explores two factors that affect innovation. The first factor studied is extrinsic, namely, the legal environment. The second factor is a factor of input into innovation - culture of the inventors. The first chapter studies the impact of a weakened patent environment on research investments. Departing from the...