Time: Friday, April 17, 2026, 9:30-11:00 a.m.

Venue: Guoshun Campus, Starr Building, Room 410

Moderator: Professor Tian Wei

Speaker: Professor Jiatao Li, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Topic: Concentration in Cross-Border Research Collaborations and MNCs’ Knowledge Creation in a Host Country

Abstract: Cross-border collaborations within multinational corporations (MNCs) significantly contribute to knowledge creation despite management challenges. We investigate how concentrating the cross-border co-inventing linkages on one or a few inventors within a host country is associated with local knowledge creation. Results of our MNC-country-year-level analysis based on American pharmaceutical MNCs data from 1980 to 2008 support our hypotheses.

Bio:

Jiatao Li is currently the Lee Quo Wei Professor of Business, Chair Professor in the Department of Management, and Director of the Center for Business Strategy and Innovation at the HKUST Business School, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is also an Academy of International Business (AIB) Fellow and served as Vice President of the Academy of International Business from 2016 to 2019, as well as Chair of the AIB 2018 Annual Meeting.

Professor Li is a senior scholar in international business strategy and is committed to advancing research on firm strategy in emerging economies. He currently serves as Department Editor for the Strategy Department of Management Science (2026-), and as Associate Editor of the Journal of International Business Studies (2016-). From 2009 to 2016, he served as Associate Editor of the Strategic Management Journal. He also served as Senior Associate Dean of the HKUST Business School from July 2013 to July 2017, Associate Dean from 2009 to July 2013, and Head of the Department of Management from 2006 to August 2017.

Professor Li's research areas include organizational learning, strategic alliances, corporate governance, innovation, and entrepreneurship. His work has been published frequently in leading management journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Journal of Management, and a number of his papers have received best paper awards. He also serves on the editorial boards of leading international management journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Global Strategy Journal, Long Range Planning, and Journal of International Business Policy.