You Willow Wu

You (Willow) Wu is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Management in The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School. Willow achieved her PhD degree in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, and achieved dual bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences and Economics at Peking University.

Willow’s research interests lie in technology entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial strategy in nascent markets. Theoretically, her work focuses on how entrepreneurs resolve institutional contradictions in the setting of marketization, digitization, and tokenization. Empirically, she uses econometric models and natural language processing methods to quantitatively analyse entrepreneurial strategy and performance. Her research has been published in the Quarterly Journal of Management, Regional Studies and the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal.

Aligned with her research interests, Willow’ teaching passion lies in entrepreneurship, strategic management, and technology and innovation management. She uses cases in teaching and motivates students to apply textbook knowledge in analyzing real-world technological innovations, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, self-driving cars, and clean energy.

Teaching Areas

• Entrepreneurship
• Strategic Management
• Technology and Innovation Management

Research Interest

• Entrepreneurial Strategy
• Entrepreneurial Finance
• Technology Entrepreneurship
• Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
• Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

Education

• B.S. (Peking University);
• Ph.D. (Stanford)

Publications & Working Papers

Publications

• Wu, Y., Eesley, C. E., & Yang, D. (2022), “Entrepreneurial Strategies During Institutional Changes: Evidence from China’s Economic Transition,” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 16(1), 185-206.
• Wu, Y., & Eesley, C. E. (2022), “Regional Migration, Entrepreneurship, and University Alumni,” Regional Studies, 56(6), 1015-1032.
• Wu, Y., Eesley, C. E., & Eisenhardt, K. M. (2020), “Entrepreneurship in Dynamic Environments: A Comparison Between the US and China (动态环境中的创业活动：中美对比),” Quarterly Journal of Management (管理学季刊), 5(2), 1-17.
• Eesley, C. E., Zhou, L., & Wu, Y. (2022), “Fostering Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Education, Human Capital, and the Institutional Environment,” Lee Y. & Yan F. (Ed.), Drivers of Innovation: Entrepreneurship, Education, and Finance in Asia, Stanford Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, 25-48.

Grants

• “The Dark Side of Initial Public Offerings: Unpacking the Black Box of Decreasing Employee Satisfaction Using Content Analysis,” Hong Kong ECS Research Grant awarded with HK$616,000, 2022-2024 (Principal Investigator)

Awards & Honours

• Graduate Student Fellowship on Global Development, Stanford King Center on Global Development, 2020-2021
• Stanford Graduate Fellowship, Stanford University, 2015-2020
• The Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division Best Paper Award, The Academy of Management, 2017
• China Economic Research Scholarship, Peking University National School of Development, 2014-2015
• China National Scholarship, Peking University, 2012-2013; 2013-2014

Academic/Professional Services

• Ad-hoc Reviewer: Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Regional Studies, The Academy of Management Annual Conferences, The Strategic Management Society Annual Conferences, International Association for Chinese Management Research Annual Conferences