Research

Innovation, R&D, and Pharmaceutical Markets

Working Papers

Fostering or Foreclosing? Acquisitions, Control Rights, and Diffusion of Knowledge (with Ruofei Guo)

Abstract: Acquiring a patent can speed an idea’s diffusion or strategically contain it. We study incumbent acquisitions of patented technologies and ask when deals are “acquired to build” versus “acquired to bury.” We develop and estimate a structural model in which firms bid for control and then choose whether to support integration and development or to shelve the technology to avoid cannibalization. The model separates implementation advantages from suppressive incentives and predicts post-acquisition diffusion trajectories and whether acquired knowledge spreads to outside innovators. Counterfactual policy experiments highlight a central trade-off: screening out the most suppressive acquisitions raises diffusion on average, but can also weaken acquisition-based returns and thereby reduce ex ante innovation incentives, potentially discouraging the highest-value breakthroughs.

Dynamic Gains from the Market for Technology: Evidence from Pharmaceutical Licensing
(with Shengmao Cao, Anran Li, and Jingyuan Wang)

Abstract: We estimate the dynamic impact of pharmaceutical licensing on firm-level innovation. Using a matched difference-in-differences design, we show that initial licensing deals lead to a significant increase in future project originations for licensors and licensees, respectively, relative to controls with identical pre-treatment trajectories. These productivity gains are broad-based across therapeutic markets and particularly pronounced for mid-development deals. Our results suggest that licensing and in-house R&D are complements, highlighting a novel channel through which the “market for technology” acts as a catalyst for innovation and growth.

Work in progress

Price Regulation, Generic Competition, and Drug Supply Shortage (with Shengmao Cao)

Insurance Markets and Healthcare Contracting

Working Papers

Mergers with Intermediation: The Price Effect of Distant Hospital Mergers
(with David Dranove and Benjamin Vatter)

Abstract: Cross-market hospital mergers often raise prices at acquired hospitals, but not for the usual local market-power reasons. Patient overlap with multi-region employers explains some cases, yet many price increases occur without overlap. We find that employer access requirements and contracting frictions may drive these effects, with important implications for antitrust enforcement.

Reinsuring the Insurers of Last Resort
(with David Dranove, Craig Garthwaite, Chris Ody, and Molly Schnell)

Abstract: By providing care for patients who lack health insurance, hospitals serve as insurers of last resort in the U.S. social safety net for healthcare. This exposes hospitals to financial risk based on the demographics of their communities. Through a variety of public programs, state and federal governments provide supplemental payments to traditional Medicare and Medicaid programs that may smooth hospital incomes. We find that these payments substantially reduce but do not eliminate the volatility of hospital profits. Thus, government serves as the reinsurer of last resort.

Work in progress

Effect of Long-term Care Insurance on Care Utilization and Substitution

Pre-PHD Research
*Note: This work was conducted during my undergraduate and master’s programs at Yonsei University.

- Political Orientation and Policy Compliance: Evidence from COVID-19 Mobility Patterns in Korea (with Hee-Seung Yang)
  The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2025
- Home Alone: Local Economic Impacts of Single-person households (with Hee-Seung Yang)
- Living in Awareness: Mobility Responses to Sex Offender Release and Reentry (with Youngsuk Bang, Jiseob Kim, and Julie Kim)