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Sharon Belenzon

Fundación Damm Distinguished Professor of Business Administration
Fuqua School of Business
Box 90120, Durham, NC 27708-0120
Fuqua School of Business, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Sharon Belenzon is the Fundación Damm Distinguished Professor of Strategy at the Fuqua School of Business. His research explores the conditions under which firms in developed nations coalesce into groups, and how different attributes of such groups are related to resource reallocation, innovation, and firm performance. Professor Belenzon’s research is dedicated to advance the understanding of how firm organizational structure mediates, and is mediated by, firm strategy, and of how structure conditions the way in which resources are mobilized across different units of the organization, focusing on financial resources, innovation, managerial talent, and brands (names). His research has been featured in top academic journals, such as Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic Journal, and Journal of Law and Economics. Professor Belenzon received his PhD from the London School of Economics, and completed post-doctorate work at the University of Oxford, Nuffield College. He has also been the recipient of the Kauffman foundation post-doctorate fellowship at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He earned MA and BA degrees in Economics from TelAviv University. At Fuqua, he teaches the core strategy course, Principles of Strategy, and the PhD strategy seminar, and is engaged in advising PhD students.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Fundación Damm Distinguished Professor of Business Administration · 2023 - Present Fuqua School of Business
Professor of Business Administration · 2020 - 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 May 4, 2023
Duke Awards 44 Distinguished Professorships
Published May 3, 2023
The United States Government Must Spur Private Sector Innovation

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Recent Publications


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

Managing risk in corporate groups: Limited liability, asset partitioning, and risk compartmentalization

Journal Article Strategic Management Journal · December 1, 2023 Research Summary: Limited liability enables corporate parents to avoid financial responsibility of their subsidiaries. However, courts can disregard separate legal personality, “pierce the corporate veil,” and impose the debts of a subsidiary on its parent ... Full text Cite

First-mover advantage and the private value of public science

Journal Article Research Policy · November 1, 2023 Technical progress increasingly relies on the use of scientific knowledge. But if much of this knowledge is in the public domain, can it be a source of private value? We find that average private returns to using public science are small, especially in cro ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Federal procurement and R&D policies and private innovation

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

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

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by Qualcomm Incorporated · 2022 - 2023

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Education, Training & Certifications


London School of Economics (United Kingdom) · 2005 Ph.D.