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Ashish Arora

Rex Adams Distinguished Professor of Business Administration
Fuqua School of Business
Box 90120, Durham, NC 27708-0120
Fuqua School of Business, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Ashish Arora is the Senior Associate Dean for Strategy and Rex D. Adams Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

His research focuses on the economics of technology and technical change. Arora's research has included the study of technology intensive industries such as software, biotechnology and chemicals, the economics of information security, and the role of patents and licensing in promoting technology startups. He has studied the rise of the software industry and the pharmaceutical industry in emerging economies. His current research focuses on the management of intellectual property and licensing in corporations, and innovation based entrepreneurship.

Arora has taught a variety of courses, including Economics of Information Security and Risk Management. He currently teaches Entrepreneurial Strategy for Innovation Based Ventures, and Emerging Markets Strategy.

He serves as departmental editor, Management Science, served as an editor of Research Policy between 2008 - 2014, and is on the editorial board of Strategic Management Journal, Research Policy, Industrial and Corporate Change, Information Economics and Policy, Journal of Evolutionary Economics. In the past, he has served on advisory panels to the Secretary of Commerce, the National Academy of Sciences, and The Association for Computing Machinery.

He has consulted to the Chemical Manufacturing Association, National Science Foundation, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Intellectual Ventures, UK Intellectual Property Office, the Brattle Group, Intel Capital and Tata Consultancy Services, and to startups including SCA Technologies, Upswing (advisory board), Wunderbar Kids (advisory board).

Arora received his Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University in 1992, and was on the faculty at the Heinz School, Carnegie Mellon University, where he held the H. John Heinz Professorship, till 2009. He has served as a visiting professor at Scuola Santa Anna, Pisa, Bocconi University, Milan, and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Rex Adams Distinguished Professor of Business Administration · 2010 - Present Fuqua School of Business
Professor of Business Administration · 2009 - Present Fuqua School of Business
Core Faculty in Innovation & Entrepreneurship · 2018 - Present Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship, University Initiatives & Academic Support Units

In the News


Published November 7, 2023
Why Companies Should Prioritize Science
Published June 12, 2017
Professors Track the Decline of Corporate Research on New Web Platform
Published May 20, 2015
American innovation lies on weak foundation

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Recent Publications


The Rise of Scientific Research in Corporate America

Journal Article Organization Science · December 17, 2024 It is widely believed that university and corporate research are complementary: companies invest in research in part to develop the capacity to absorb the knowledge emerging from universities. However, as we show in this paper, corporate research ... Full text Cite

When does patent protection spur cumulative research within firms?

Journal Article Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization · November 1, 2024 We estimate the effect of patent protection on follow-on investments in corporate scientific research. We exploit a new method for identifying an exogenous reduction in the protection a granted patent provides. Using data on public, research-active firms b ... Full text Cite

The missing middle: Value capture in the market for startups

Journal Article Research Policy · April 1, 2024 We argue that innovations that involve both upstream (technological) and downstream (commercialization) challenges are disadvantaged in a startup-based innovation system where startups develop inventions, while incumbents acquire startups. We propose an an ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Federal procurement and R&D policies and private innovation

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation · 2023 - 2025

Intellectual Property Rights, Start-ups, and the Market for Technology in the American Innovation Ecosystem

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Qualcomm Incorporated · 2022 - 2023

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Education, Training & Certifications


Stanford University · 1992 Ph.D.
Jawaharlal Nehru University (India) · 1986 M.A.
St. Stephen's College, Delhi (India) · 1984 B.A.