Welcome! My name is Yu Li, and I am a Ph.D. candidate in International Business at the Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina. I am on the 2024-25 academic job market.

My research mostly falls at the intersection of non-market strategy, sustainability, and international business. I examine topics related to corporate sociopolitical activism, stakeholder management, CSR decoupling, social sustainability, FDIs' social impact, and geopolitical risk. In addition to contributing to major theory debates, my work is also related to the role of MNEs in achieving major global sustainability goals, as reflected in the UN Sustainable Development Goals 5 (gender equality), 10 (reduced inequalities), and 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).

My dissertation, Walking A Tightrope: Challenges for Corporate Sociopolitical Activism Amidst Stakeholder Divides, focuses on three overarching research questions: 

• How do stakeholders evaluate the legitimacy of activist firms?

• Why do firms engage in CSR decoupling specifically on LGBTQ issues?

• How do MNEs strategically respond to anti-LGBTQ legislation in host countries?

My empirical research uses unique datasets both collected manually and with archival data, as well as by relying on cutting-edge techniques, such as web-scrapping and machine learning tools. Across my projects, I implement many different approaches for causal inference, including synthetic control approach, instrumental variables, and difference-in-differences. 

I also have some work relying on the formal modeling approach to build new theories on corporate sociopolitical activism contradiction.

Please feel free to email me here and book my calendar.