Publications

This paper demonstrates a new agency channel through which payout taxation affects corporate investment. Lower payout taxes increase managers' cash flow right to the firm via managerial ownership, which further aligns shareholder-manager incentives but exacerbates managerial risk exposures to the firm. I develop a framework to test this channel and provide supporting evidence using a setting of innovation investments around the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut. Aligning incentives stimulates the innovation input and output. Aggravated managerial risk aversion impedes innovation quantity and also shifts innovation to safer and more incremental directions. I also explore underlying operational channels and interactive mechanisms.

We study how innovative firms manage their innovation portfolios after filing for Chapter 11 reorganization using three decades of data. We find that they sell off core (i.e., technologically critical and valuable), rather than peripheral, patents in bankruptcy. The selling pattern is driven almost entirely by firms with greater use of secured debt, and the mechanism is secured creditors exercising their control rights on collateralized patents. Creditor-driven patent sales in bankruptcy have implications for technology diffusion--the sold patents diffuse more slowly under new ownership and are more likely to be purchased by patent trolls.

Synchrony, a prominent financial services company, was established in 2014 following its spin-off from General Electric (GE) where it had a long history as a significant financial arm. Synchrony became the largest issuer of private label credit cards in the United States. The company’s CEO, Margaret Keane, faced the task of harmonizing the firm’s deep legacy with innovative practices to attract and retain millennial talent in an era where traditional financial services are perceived as less appealing career options. Keane had to ensure these young professionals' insights drove the development of new products and services suited to millennial spending habits.

Furthermore, Synchrony faced heightened competition from fintech companies that have successfully captured millennial credit preferences with innovative and user-friendly products. Another significant challenge involves supporting retail partners as they navigate the evolving retail landscape marked by a shift towards omni-channel retailing, which blends online and physical store experiences.