Seminar （Dept. of Trade Economics）

Theme：What if one creates no content? social platform performance under DIFFERENT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS regimes

Speaker：Sali Li (University of South Carolina)

Time：2020-10-16 09:00

Address：Zoom APP

Language：English

Zoom Meeting:

https://zoom.us/j/9792807955

Meeting ID: 979 280 7955

Abstract：

Extant research maintains that firms, as the intellectual property owner, benefit from strong institutional protection. We reexamine this contention in a burgeoning platform context where complementors, rather than the platform firm, own much of the intellectual property rights (IPR). Our theory explicates how platforms deploy property rights to user-generated content differently than proprietary content. Using a unique large-scale cross-country dataset, our analysis examines the performance of top social platforms in 47 host countries. We find that both platforms’ proprietary content and user-generated content are positively associated with platform performance. However, while IPR protection of the host country amplifies the positive performance effect of platforms’ proprietary content, it weakens the platform firm’s ability to generate revenue from external resources contributed by complementors. We discuss our contributions to research on IPR, platforms and institutions.

Short biography：

Sali Li (PhD University of Utah, 2007) is a Professor and Research Fellow at the Sonoco International Business Department at the Darla Moore School of Business.

Professor Li teaches Global Strategy and Negotiation course in the MBA, PhD, and Executive Education programs and has received several teaching awards. His research on internationalization of digital innovation was awarded the Rugman Prize by the Academy of International Business and he was recognized as the most promising scholar under the age of 40 in the field of international business. Professor Li’s research on FDI in Africa won the GWU-CIBER Best Paper Award on Emerging Markets at Academy of Management. In addition, he also serves as associate editor of Journal of Management and Journal of World Business.