Research
Associate Professor of Economics
Innovation, institutions, and the economics of intellectual property
I am an Associate Professor in the School of Law and Economics at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. My research examines how patent institutions shape innovation incentives, technology disclosure, knowledge diffusion, and follow-on innovation, with a particular focus on China.
Research Agenda
Innovation is cumulative: new ideas build on existing knowledge. Patent protection can encourage invention and disclosure, but it can also create market power and raise the cost of follow-on research. My work studies this trade-off using patent, firm, legal, and policy data, combining institutional analysis with empirical methods.
Current projects examine patent invalidation, standards and standard-setting, and examiner-applicant interactions in fast-track patent examination.
Selected Publications
Patent length and innovation: Novel evidence from China
Meiyang Zhang, Xuezhong Zhu, and Rui Liu
The Power of Standards: Empirical Evidence from China's Standard Essential Patents
Xiaoning Long and Meiyang Zhang
Patent Thicket: Impetus or Barrier in Technological Innovation?
Meiyang Zhang and Xiaoning Long
Working Papers
Patent protection and follow-on innovation: Evidence from patent invalidation decisions
With Xiaoning Long
Capture by standards? Evidence from China's standard-setting process
With Xiaoning Long and Fan Zhang
When goals align: Examiner-applicant interaction and the speed-quality trade-off in fast-track patent applications
With Rui Liu, Xuezhong Zhu, and Qimeng Jiang
Selected Research Support
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Young Scientists Fund · Principal Investigator
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
Special Funding, 19th Batch · Principal Investigator
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
General Program, 76th Batch · Principal Investigator
Contact
For research correspondence, email daisy_zhang0623@foxmail.com or visit my ORCID profile.