PUBLICATIONS

Media Coverage: Nature News; 新京报书评周刊.

(* Corresponding Author.)

WORKING PAPERS

Abstract: How do scientists respond to publication-contingent cash incentives? Based on cash-per-publication policies in four top-ranked research hospitals in China, we find that increasing expected cash rewards per publication significantly increases scientists’ annual publications in low-impact journals. Yet, scientists garner fewer forward citations, reduce exploration, and publish more in journals with easy acceptance. Relative increases in cash rewards for publishing in higher-impact journals over lower-impact journals also fail to induce high-impact publications. These findings are consistent with a model showing that the effectiveness of such policies is constrained by scientists’ research ability and information advantage with research ideas.

Abstract: While human capital has long been recognized as a critical input to entrepreneurship, the relationship between the availability of highly skilled individuals and entrepreneurship quality, as opposed to the sheer number of new startups, remains understudied. In this paper, we provide causal evidence that increasing the supply of elite talent enhances entrepreneurship quality and document the channels through which this occurs. Exploiting the staggered introduction of local talent policies across Chinese cities as a quasi-natural experiment, we apply a difference-in-differences framework to rich administrative data. We find that these policies—designed to attract and support individuals with demonstrated achievements, particularly in science and engineering—increase aggregate entrepreneurship quality by 9% without significantly affecting the startup formation rate. The realized number of high-growth startups increases by 14.7%, and the number of patent-active startups increases by 6.4%. Robust event-study analyses reveal that policy impacts grow steadily over time. Using patent data to track inventor mobility, we further show that these policies successfully attract top-tier talent both domestically and from abroad. This inflow of talent benefits local industries that align with their technical expertise, reorients entrepreneurial activities from low-tech to high-tech sectors, and increases university patenting and university-industry collaborations, which in turn generate knowledge transfers and spillovers that enhance local entrepreneurship quality. Overall, our findings suggest that strengthening the local pool of elite human capital effectively enhances entrepreneurship quality.

Abstract: Existing studies using citation data from patents issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) have relied solely on front-page citations, which, due to CNIPA's unique practices, consist exclusively of examiner citations. We develop the first comprehensive CNIPA citation dataset that includes both front-page examiner citations and in-text applicant citations extracted from full CNIPA patent documents. In line with prior studies, we verify that the total number of forward citations is significantly and positively associated with patent value. However, our analysis reveals that forward applicant citations are a stronger predictor of patent value and a more reliable measure for knowledge diffusion than forward examiner citations. To facilitate future research within the innovation community, we have made this new dataset publicly available. Furthermore, we provide an in-depth review of CNIPA's citation practices, comparing them with those of the USPTO and EPO—two patent offices whose citation data have been extensively studied. Based on these comparisons, we offer practical recommendations for the effective use of CNIPA patent citation data in future research.

Abstract: Job mobility of science and engineering (S&E) workers is crucial to knowledge diffusion and the success of high-tech clusters such as Silicon Valley. However, job mobility also expose firms to the risk of knowledge leakage to competitors. As a result, firms in knowledge-intensive industries often use non-compete agreements to limit employees' freedom to join rival companies. This paper investigates the effects of non-compete agreements on S&E doctorate recipients by exploiting exogenous variations in the enforceability of these contracts in the United States. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I find that stricter enforcement of non-compete agreements reduces job mobility for PhDs who work in the for-profit sector and increases the compensation gain that is necessary to induce a job change. Stricter enforcement also diminishes the returns to tenure and  reduces workers' incentive to improve their skills. These results are consistent with a model in which non-compete agreements grant employers monopsony power over an employee's human capital, effectively turning "technologically general" human capital into firm-specific capital, and shifting the incentive to invest in human capital from the employee to the employer. This paper contributes to the understanding of the economic burdens that non-compete agreements place on highly skilled workers.


Working Papers in Chinese 

摘要: 高校通过制度创新设立异地地方研究院，有助于打破高校与企业在空间分布与科研需求上的错配，打通知识生产主体与企业创新主体间的知识循环，是发展新质生产力推进高质量发展的重要着力点。本文基于2000-2019年我国高校与异地企业合作申请的发明专利数据和手动整理的高校异地设立地方研究院数据，通过多期双重差分模型发现，高校到异地设立地方研究院能够显著降低地理距离对创新溢出的阻隔，实现跨区域创新溢出。首先，高校异地设立研究院提高了高校与异地企业的合作发明专利申请量，这既得益于高校与原有合作伙伴合作发明专利的增加，也得益于新增合作伙伴之间的专利申请增加，在此基础上高校将进一步增加对异地的投资金额。异质性分析显示，高校到省外设立异地研究院有助于降低高校知识转移的行政壁垒，促进高校对省外企业主体的知识溢出与技术扩散；理工类高校和科研能力越强的高校设立地方研究院的溢出效应更显著；高校与异地城市技术领域具有中等相似度更有利于实现高校的跨区域创新溢出。高校将地方研究院设在东部地区能普遍获得正向的创新溢出，在教育水平相对较低的城市设立地方研究院更能促进跨区域校企合作创新。 

OTHER WRITINGS

RESEARCH GRANTS