(Mis)Use of Power in the Ivory Tower : Evidence from Deans in Chinese Universities

In a hierarchical academic system, power can distort the allocation of research resources and output ownership. We study the role of power in intellectual property acquisition. Using biographical information of deans in elite STEM schools in China and their patent application records, we find that the deanship increases their patent applications by 14%. The heterogeneous effect analysis suggests that the deanship effect is driven by misuse of power rather than enhanced ability or greater access to resources. We provide causal evidence by showing that an anti-corruption campaign, which increases the cost of misusing power, contains the deanship effect. Finally, we find that misusing power distorts resource allocation. After deans take office, their previous co-inventors receive more funding. Our study has general implications about how power might impede innovation and calls for devising proper policies in response to this issue