Lucy Xiaolu Wang

Lucy Xiaolu Wang, Ph.D.

Affiliated Research Fellow

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research
Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst



Personal Website:

https://www.lucyxiaoluwang.com

Areas of Interest:

Economics of Innovation and Digitization, Health Care Economics, Industrial Organization, Public Finance, Law and Economics  

Academic Résumé

8/2020 - 8/2021
Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research)

8/2014 – 5/2020
Ph.D. in Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Dissertation Title: “Essays on Innovation and Digitization in Health Care Markets

8/2012 – 5/2014
M.A. in Economics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

9/2008 – 7/2012
B.A. in Economics (Specialty: Insurance), Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing

Honors, Scholarships, Academic Prizes

2019 – 2020
Principal Investigator, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business “Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Technology” (IET) Theme Inaugural Travel Grant ($2,000) (faculty co-PI: Chris Forman), Cornell University 

2016 – 2020
Conference Travel Grants (Graduate School; Economics Department; Policy Analysis & Management), Cornell University
Institute for Health Economics, Health Behaviors, and Disparities Student Grants (x5), Cornell University

2019
Best Paper Award, Wharton Innovation Doctoral Symposium, University of Pennsylvania
Young Scholar Best Paper Award (in economics/management), European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP), ETH Zürich
Best Paper Proceedings, Outstanding Student Paper Award Winner (William H. Newman Award Divisional Nominee), Student Travel Scholarship Award, and Finalist for Best Theory to Practice Paper, Healthcare Management Division, Academy of Management
Flora Rose & Flemmie Kittrell Summer Fellowship, Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University
Graduate School Research Travel Grant ($2,000), Cornell University

2018 – 2019
Ernest Liu '64, Ta-Chung and Ya-Chao Liu Memorial Fellowship, Deptartment of Economics, Cornell University
Humane Studies Fellowship Grant ($5,000), Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University

2018
Young Researcher Best Paper Award, The 9th Conference on Health IT & Analytics, Washington D.C.
CU-CIRTL Scholar Certificate Award, Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching & Learning, Cornell University

2017 – 2018
Selected Fellow Mentor, Graduate Teaching Assistant Fellowship ($1,000), Center for Teaching Innovation, Cornell University
Research Travel Grant & Hayek Fund Awards (x2), Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University

2017
Certificate in University and College Teaching, Cornell University
Certificate in Academic Research Mentoring, Cornell University

2016 – 2017
Graduate Research and Teaching Fellowship ($1,000), Center for Teaching Excellence, Cornell University

2016
Human Ecology Alumni Association Student Research Grant, Cornell University

2014
Economics Department Masters’ Program Conference Travel Grant, Duke University

2013 – 2014
Department of Economics Master’s Scholarship (Tuition Waiver), Duke University

2012
Outstanding Graduate Awards by Beijing Municipal Commission of Education

2011
Outstanding Student Awards by Beijing Municipal Commission of Education
“Challenge Cup” National Academic Science & Technology Competition, 2nd prize in Beijing
Principal Investigator, China Ping An National Academic Dissertation Contest (¥5,000), 2nd Prize National

2010
China National Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling, 2nd prize National
China Banking Association Micro Entrepreneurship Investigator Grant
Principal Investigator, China Ping An National Academic Dissertation Contest (¥10,000), 1st Prize National

2009
National Insurance Education Hope Scholarship (¥8,000), Insurance Society of China

2010 – 2012
Top 10 Individuals/Teams in Research, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing

2009 – 2012
Principal Investigator, National Undergraduate Research Innovation Grant (¥10,000), Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China
Summer Investigator Grants (Univ.-wide bid), Conference Grants (School of Insurance), Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing

2008 – 2012
Excellent Undergraduate Scholarship, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing

Publications

Articles in Refereed Journals

Kreyer, Ann-Christin; Wang, Lucy Xiaolu (2022). Collaborating Neuroscience Online: The Case of the Human Brain Project Forum, PLoS One, 17 (12). DOI

  • This paper analyzes user interactions on the public-access online forum of the Human Brain Project (HBP), a major European Union-funded neuroscience research initiative, to understand the utility of the Forum for collaborative problem solving. We construct novel data using discussion forum posts and detailed user profiles on the HBP Forum. We find that HBP Forum utilization is comparable to that of a leading general-interest coding platform, and that online usage metrics quickly recovered after an initial Covid-19-related dip. Regression results show that user interactions on the Forum are more active for questions on programming and in HBP core areas. Further, Cox proportional hazard analyses show that such problems are solved faster. Forum posts with users from different countries tend to be discussed more actively but solved slower. Higher shares of administrator support tend to solve problems faster. There are no clear patterns regarding gender and seniority. Our results suggest that building novel collaborative forums can support researchers working on complex topics in challenging times.
  • Also published as: Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper No. 22-10

Epstein, Jordan; Nicholson, Sean; Wang, Lucy Xiaolu; Hempstead, Katherine; Asin, Sam (2020). The Secret Menu in Health Care: A Cash Market for Imaging in California, INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing 2020. DOI

  • In addition to the prices they negotiate with private health insurers, most providers also have a cash price schedule for patients who have the wherewithal to ask and are willing to pay in full when they receive a service. This is the first study that estimates the potential cost saving of allowing privately-insured consumers to observe both in-network negotiated prices and cash prices, which is of particular interest given the growing importance of high-deductible health plans and a recent executive order mandating greater price transparency. Using data from five private health insurers and 142 imaging facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, we estimate that patients could save between 10% and 22% of their insurer’s in-network price by paying cash. Potential savings are much larger (between 45% and 64% of their insurer’s in-network price) if consumers observe both cash and in-network prices and select the facility in the region offering the lowest price for a particular service.
  • Also published as: Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper No. 21-05

Contributions to Collected Editions

Cassidy, Alecia W.; Tower, Edward; Wang, Lucy Xiaolu (2015). Manufacturing Fetishism: The Neo-Mercantilist Preoccupation with Protecting Manufacturing, in: Amitrajeet Batabyal, Peter Nijkamp (eds.), The Region and the Trade: New Analytical Directions, 137-175. New Jersey: World Scientific. DOI

Discussion Papers

Wang, Lucy Xiaolu; Wilson, Nicholas (2022). U.S. State Approaches to Cannabis Licensing, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 22-09.

  • U.S. states have taken varied approaches to licensing cannabis businesses under federal prohibition, but up to now there is limited research on cross-state licensing approaches. This paper provides a systematic analysis of the current licensing strategies taken by all states that have passed medical cannabis laws (MCLs)/recreational cannabis laws (RCLs). We construct comprehensive data on cannabis business licenses offered in each state, as well as metrics for license categories, cost, and issuance volume. We then analyze patterns between these metrics, also considering how long ago states implemented MCLs/RCLs, qualitative licensing aspects, state ideology and voting preference, and state cannabis taxation data. We observe that states tend to license medical cannabis more restrictively than adult-use cannabis: i.e., by offering licenses in fewer categories, at higher cost, in lower issuance volume, and more often mandating vertical integration. Additionally, states that implemented MCLs/RCLs earlier tend to offer licenses in more categories, at lower cost, and in greater issuance volumes. Further, though states that implemented MCLs recently lean conservative and Republican, we do not observe clear relationships between ideology or voting preference and licensing policy. In our supporting results, we observe that a greater share of states with complex licensing structures impose non-retail price cannabis taxes than states overall, and we discuss how states have changed their licensing policies over time.
  • Available at SSRN

Wang, Lucy Xiaolu (2021). The Complementarity of Drug Monitoring Programs and Health IT for Reducing Opioid-Related Mortality and Morbidity, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 21-14. DOI

  • In response to the opioid crisis, each U.S. state has implemented a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) to collect data on controlled substances prescribed and dispensed in the state. I study whether health information technology (HIT) complements the availability of patient data in PDMPs to reduce opioid-related mortality and morbidity. I construct a novel dataset that records state policies that integrate PDMP with HIT and facilitate interstate data sharing. Using difference-in-differences models, I find that PDMP-HIT integration policies reduce opioid-related mortality and morbidity. The reductions in inpatient morbidity are substantial in states that established integration without ever mandating the use of a PDMP. The impacts are strongest for the most vulnerable groups – middle-age, low- to middle-income patients, and those with public insurance. I find suggestive evidence that interstate data sharing further complements integration despite not having a significant impact independently. The total benefits from integration far exceed the associated costs.

Epstein, Jordan; Nicholson, Sean; Wang, Lucy Xiaolu; Hempstead, Katherine; Asin, Sam (2021). The Secret Menu in Health Care: A Market for Imaging in California, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 21-05.

  • Also published in: INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing
  • In addition to the prices they negotiate with private health insurers, most providers also have a cash price schedule for patients who have the wherewithal to ask and are willing to pay in full when they receive a service. This is the first study that estimates the potential cost saving of allowing privately-insured consumers to observe both in-network negotiated prices and cash prices, which is of particular interest given the growing importance of high-deductible health plans and a recent executive order mandating greater price transparency. Using data from five private health insurers and 142 imaging facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, we estimate that patients could save between 10 percent and 22 percent of their insurer’s in-network price by paying cash. Potential savings are much larger (between 45 percent and 64 percent of their insurer’s in-network price) if consumers observe both cash and in-network prices and select the facility in the region offering the lowest price for a particular service.
  • Available at SSRN
  • Forthcoming in: INQUIRY - The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing

Wang, Lucy Xiaolu (2020). Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation with a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails. DOI

  • Designed to reward innovation, patent protection often leads to high drug prices that make life-saving medicines unaffordable for patients. This tension further induces increasing patent infringement and invalidation to reduce prices, particularly in developing countries. The situation is serious for treatments that require multiple drugs owned by different firms with numerous patents, notably for HIV. I study the impact of the first joint licensing platform for drug bundling, the Medicines Patent Pool, on global drug diffusion and innovation. The pool allows generic firms worldwide to sublicense drug bundles cheaply and conveniently for sales in a set of developing countries. I construct a novel dataset from licensing contracts, public procurement, clinical trials, and drug approvals. Using difference-in-differences methods, I find robust evidence that the pool leads to a substantial increase in generic supply of drugs purchased. In addition, the branded-drug makers and other entities, such as public institutions, respond to the pool by increasing the number of new clinical trials. The R&D input increase is accompanied by increases in generic drug product approvals. Finally, I estimate a structural model to quantify welfare gains and simulate counterfactuals. The total benefit far to consumers and firms exceeds the associated costs.

Wang, Lucy Xiaolu (2020). Patent Classification Systems and Technological Categorization: An Overview and Data Update. DOI

  • Patent classification systems and upper-level grouping datasets have been widely used for research and entrepreneurial purposes but are insufficiently documented. This article provides an overview of the major patent classification systems and the basic ideas behind categorization of the data on patent classes. I highlight recent institutional changes that disproportionately affect patents in specific categories and alternative categorizations used in the patent examination process. Finally, I update the National Bureau of Economic Research patent technological categorization based on the latest U.S. patent classification. The resulting datasets can be used in numerous follow-up analyses using patent data to investigate innovation and entrepreneurship.

Epstein, Jordan; Nicholson, Sean; Wang, Lucy Xiaolu; Hempstead, Katherine; Asin, Sam (2020). The Secret Menu in Health Care: A Cash Market for Imaging in California, Working Paper.

  • Funded by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant awarded in 2016 (Principal Investigator: J. Epstein)
  • In addition to the prices they negotiate with private health insurers, most providers also have a cash price schedule for patients who have the wherewithal to ask and are willing to pay in full when they receive a service. This is the first study to our knowledge that estimates the potential benefits of allowing privately-insured consumers to observe both in-network negotiated prices and cash prices, which is of particular interest given the growing importance of high-deductible health plans. Using data from five private health insurers and 142 imaging facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, we estimate that patients could save between 10 percent and 22 percent of their insurer’s in-network price by paying cash. Potential savings are much larger (between 45 percent and 64 percent of their insurer’s in-network price) if consumers observe both cash and in-network prices and select the facility in the region offering the lowest price for a particular service.

Cassidy, Alecia W.; Tower, Edward; Wang, Lucy Xiaolu (2016). Manufacturing Fetishism: The Neo-Mercantilist Preoccupation with Protecting Manufacturing, Economic Research Initiatives at Duke (ERID) Working Paper, No. 227.

  • Two common views are that a country cannot develop without a strong manufacturing base and that trade restrictions are essential to facilitate the development of that strong manufacturing base and thus spur economic growth. We ask:
    Does a strong manufacturing share of GDP facilitate economic growth?
    Do trade restrictions ensure the development of a strong manufacturing base?
    How can governance affect manufacturing share?
    And are the relationships we find robust across regions?
    We find the manufacturing share is not significantly correlated with a higher standard of living. Nor is it related significantly and consistently to economic growth. We also find that trade restrictions both at home and abroad shrink the manufacturing base and smother economic growth. A better way than protectionism and subsidies specific to industry to enhance economic growth is to improve governance effectiveness and the quality of regulation.
  • Available at SSRN
  • Also published in: The Region and Trade, pp. 137-175 (2015)

Presentations

12/07/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With the Medicines Patent Pool
New York University, Stern School of Business, MBA guest speaker
Location: online


12/04/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With the Medicines Patent Pool
NBER Entrepreneurship Working Group Meeting+
Location: online


09/02/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Research Brownbag
Location: online (Washington D.C., United States)


08/13/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Chinese Economists Society North America Meeting
Location: online (Boston, United States)


06/05/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Industry Studies Association Annual Conference
Location: online (Boston, United States)


02/14/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
University of Sydney Seminar
Location: Sydney, Australia


02/10/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
National University of Singapore (Business School) Seminar
Location: virtual


02/06/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic and Social Research Seminar
Location: Melbourne, Australia


01/31/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
RAND Corporation Seminar
Location: Washington, DC, United States


01/29/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Economics Seminar
Location: Chicago, United States


01/22/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
University of Massachusetts Amherst (Resource Economics) Seminar
Location: Amherst, United States


01/15/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Seminar
Location: Munich, Germany


01/03/20
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
American Economic Association Annual Meeting
Location: San Diego, United States


12/17/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Econometric Society European Winter Meeting
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands


12/09/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
UC Berkeley (Haas School of Business) Seminar
Location: Berkeley, United States


12/04/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Charles River Associates Seminar
Location: Boston, United States


12/03/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
NBER Productivity Seminar
Location: Cambridge, United States


11/25/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Cornerstone Research Seminar
Location: New York City, United States


11/09/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management Fall Research Conference
Location: Denver, United States


10/26/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Economics Graduate Student Conference, Washington Univ. in St. Louis
Location: St. Louis, United States


10/20/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Annual Meeting
Location: Seattle, United States


10/11/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Wharton Innovation Doctoral Symposium
Location: Philadelphia, United States


10/05/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
North East Universities Development Consortium, Northwestern University
Location: Evanston, United States


09/13/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
European Policy for Intellectual Property, ETH Zürich
Location: Zurich, Switzerland


08/12/19
The Complementarity of Health Information and Health IT for Reducing Opioid-Related Mortality and Morbidity
Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
Location: Boston, United States


08/09/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
19th Annual Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, DePaul University (Law School)
Location: Chicago, United States


07/15/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
International Health Economics Association World Congress
Location: Basel, Switzerland


07/08/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
Medicines Patent Pool seminar
Location: Geneva, Switzerland


06/25/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
8th Conference of the American Society of Health Economists (Poster)
Location: Washington, D.C., United States


06/09/19
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation With a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails
26th Consortium for Competitiveness and Cooperation (CCC) Conference
Location: Durham/Chapel Hill, United States


05/31/19
The Complementarity of Health Information and Health IT for Reducing Opioid-Related Mortality and Morbidity
Global Drug Diffusion and Innovation with a Patent Pool: The Case of HIV Drug Cocktails

Industry Studies Association Conference (x2, healthcare; innovation)
Location: Nashville, United States


01/04 - 01/06/19
The Growing Shadow of Patent Litigation: Patentability Uncertainty and Strategic Reactions
American Economic Association Annual Meeting (Poster)
Location: Atlanta, United States