January 28, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
January 28, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
Embedded Files
Larisa Cioaca (Tulane University) - will present “The Private Value of Innovating for the Government.” (with Ashish Arora, Sharon Belenzon, and Elia Ferracuti)
Abstract: We quantify the private returns to government R&D contracts awarded to firms. We present new evidence that R&D contracts not only finance innovation but also embed an implicit government guarantee of noncompetitive future procurement for the winning R&D contractor. We measure its private value by analyzing stock market reactions to news about R&D contract awards. Using all federal R&D contracts awarded to U.S. publicly traded firms from 1984 through 2015, we find that the average private return on an R&D contract is 19 times its maximum potential revenue. However, returns are highly skewed, with only 7.5% of firms receiving at least one top-quartile contract. Private returns are linked to future production contracts, but only for noncompetitive awards to vertically integrated or large firms. These results suggest that a procurement regime bundling R&D and production contracts enhances value for firms with production capability. We develop a conceptual framework to clarify this innovation policy lever.
February 4, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
February 4, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
Jue (Kate) Wang (Penn State University) - will present “Anchoring Risk in the Participatory Regulation Process: How Engaging Risk-Bearing Stakeholders Shapes Lobbying Effectiveness”
Abstract: Firms seeking favorable regulations for new technologies have traditionally built political support by emphasizing benefits and mobilizing stakeholders who stand to gain, which is a strategy that proved effective when regulators relied primarily on expert input and closed-door lobbying. As regulatory processes become more participatory, however, risk-bearing stakeholders gain direct access to regulators and shape problem definitions, such that benefit-focused lobbying becomes insufficient when firms cannot credibly address the risks these stakeholders foreground. Drawing on research in the social construction of technology and problem definition in policy making, this paper theorizes that firms can sustain regulatory influence in participatory settings by stabilizing early problem definitions around stakeholder-defined risks that their technologies can credibly address. By anchoring regulatory discourse to these risks, firms establish evaluative reference points that shape how regulators assess subsequent policy proposals, with anchoring proving most effective when firms possess strong reputational legitimacy and closely align with risk-bearing stakeholder framings. Evidence from drone firms’ regulatory narratives during FAA rulemaking (2014-2020) supports this framework. The findings show how participatory regulation reshapes political influence by shifting firms’ nonmarket strategies from benefit-focused advocacy toward early-stage problem definition centered on risk-bearing stakeholders.
February 18, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
February 18, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
Jay Habegger (University of Maryland) - will present. "Searching for Schumpeter beyond Sand Hill Road: Estimating Innovation Ventures uising Multiple Systems Estimation."
Abstract: Innovative ventures that drive Creative Destruction are central to economic growth, yet identifying them ex ante—before success is observed—remains a core challenge in entrepreneurship research. Existing approaches rely either on ex post revealed growth outcomes or on proxies for entrepreneurial intent, but both struggle with a fundamental non-complier problem: innovative ventures that intend to innovate but do not, and ventures that do not intend to innovate yet do so nonetheless. This study proposes an alternative perspective: ventures at risk of Schumpeterian entrepreneurship are revealed not by outcomes or intent, but by securing an initial equity investment—although not necessarily from VCs. Combining this insight with capture–recapture, a method frequently used in biology and epidemiology, the paper leverages systematic differences in coverage across commercial VC databases to estimate the size of the otherwise hidden population of initial equity investments from 2009–2020. The results show that existing VC databases undercount initial equity investments by a factor of four, particularly missing smaller, geographically dispersed companies. Contrary to prevailing views, innovative ventures appear to be an increasing share of young firms. These findings challenge how scholars and policymakers assess entrepreneurial dynamism and suggest that the stock of innovative ventures is both broader and more geographically diffuse than commonly assumed.
March 11, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
March 11, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
Anna Lamin (Northeastern University) - will present - title forthcoming
March 25, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
March 25, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
Mahka Moeen (University of Wisconsin) - will present - title forthcoming
April 8, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
April 8, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
Sukhun Kang (University of California Santa Barbara) - will present "Data Privacy Regulation and Innovation" (with Jennifer Kao, UCLA).
This paper examines how data privacy regulations shape innovation. While data privacy regulations are designed to increase data security, they also introduce compliance costs and coordination challenges in settings where collecting, analyzing, and sharing sensitive data is central to innovation. We examine the effect of the European Union (EU)’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the largest data privacy law to date, on the pharmaceutical industry. We find that a significant decline in clinical trial activity among firms more exposed to the reform. Firms reduced both the scale and scope of their trials, enrolling fewer patients, targeting fewer diseases, and operating across fewer sites. While collaborative activity declined overall, we provide evidence that firms adapted by shifting toward existing (rather than new) research collaborators. These findings highlight how data privacy regulations can shape not only the rate of R&D, but also the composition of firms’ R&D activities and the organizational contexts in which innovation is ultimately pursued.
April 22, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
April 22, 2026: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm ET
Supradeep Dutta (Rutgers University - Camden) - will present. Paper information forthcoming.
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