The 320th Wenlan Financial Forum

Abstract：

In this study, we analyzed online job posting data from publicly traded companies in the United States to investigate their R&D activities. Our research found that the demand for R&D human capital has continued to grow from 2010 to 2021. After controlling for other commonly used indicators of R&D activities, such as R&D expenses and narrative R&D information in 10-K reports, we found that R&D job postings have incremental predictive power for a company's future innovation performance. This predictive power is particularly evident in companies with higher growth opportunities or lower labor intensity and is particularly prominent for R&D job postings that require disruptive technology skills or advanced education. Additionally, the skills listed in R&D job postings are consistent with the types of patents the company will apply for in the future. Overall, our results highlight the significance of R&D job postings as an important source of information for understanding a company's innovation activities.

Speaker Introduction：

Professor Bohui Zhang is currently the Executive Dean and Presidential Chair Professor at the School of Management and Economics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. He also serves as the Director of the FinTech and Social Finance Research Center at Shenzhen Finance Institute, the Director of the Master of Science in Data Science program, and a member of the Board of Directors of Shenzhen Big Data Institute. Professor Zhang is an expert on the Decision-Making Consultative Committee of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, and a member of the Decision-Making Consultative Committee of Zibo City, Shandong Province. He previously held a tenured full professorship and was the Deputy Director of the International Finance Center at the Business School of the University of New South Wales, Australia. Professor Zhang graduated with a Ph.D. in Finance from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore in 2008, having previously obtained a Master's degree in Economics from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2004 and a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from the Department of Engineering Mechanics at Tsinghua University in 2003. Professor Zhang conducts research in several areas, including FinTech, sustainable finance, the impact of information intermediation on capital markets, and Chinese and international capital markets. His research findings have been published multiple times in top international academic journals. He received the Young Researcher Medal from the Australian Academy of Social Sciences in 2016 and the Young Researcher Medal from the University of New South Wales in 2010. He has led several Australian Research Council projects, University of New South Wales Australian School of Business research funds, and participated in the National Natural Science Foundation of China's general projects. He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Asian Finance Association.