This dissertation presents a collection of three essays examining the intersection of innovation, firm performance, and the role of finance, with a focus on firms in the Chinese context. It explores how external factors—such as intellectual property protection, cultural influences, and financial development—shape corporate innovation and affect firm outcomes. The first essay, Copycat Trademarks, investigates the real effects of copycat behavior on firm performance and the role of IPR protection. Using deep learning models to detect trademark copycat, this essay shows that well-known brand holders suffer reduced profitability and slower sales growth due to imitation, and explores how China’s 2013 Trademark Law Reform helped mitigate these effects. The second essay, Collectivism and Corporate Innovation, co-authored with Yong Ma, examines how collectivism, a key cultural trait, influences corporate innovation. This essay demonstrates that firms with higher levels of collectivism tend to invest more in R&D, with private enterprises seeing greater R&D expenditure, while state-owned enterprises focus on patent filings. The third essay, Financial Development and Firms’ R&D Investment, co-authored with Yong Ma, explores the role of financial development in reducing financing gaps for innovation. This essay shows that financial development fosters R&D investment, especially for younger, smaller, and private firms. Overall, this dissertation provides new insights into how firms navigate external pressures such as copycat, culture, and financial constraints to foster innovation and enhance performance.
