Essays in Corporate Finance

Abstract

This thesis explores the determinants and effects of corporate innovation and technology spillovers, emphasizing their roles in productivity and economic gains. It contains a literature review and two essays examining different aspects of finance at its intersection with innovation. The first essay investigates how competition affects the economic value of innovation, the primary incentive for corporate R&D investments. I measure the economic value of innovation based on the changes in patenting firms' stock market value around patent issuance dates, following Kogan et al. (2017). The economic value of innovation is higher in industries with a low level of competition. Within an industry, ..